The five 'overlooked' Greater Manchester towns promised cash by government 'to regenerate high streets and tackle anti-social behaviour'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Five towns in Greater Manchester are being promised £20m over the next decade to help regenerate their high streets and tackle anti-social behaviour.

Chadderton in Oldham, Heywood in Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne in Tameside, Leigh in Wigan and Farnworth in Bolton are among 55 ‘overlooked’ areas which have been earmarked for the extra cash, announced by Rishi Sunak tonight (Saturday) on the eve of the start of the Tory Party Conference.

The endowment-style funding won’t be given to local councils but rather distributed via the Department for Levelling Up and a specially created towns board involving local leaders. READ MORE: Thousands of protesters to take to streets of Manchester city centre ahead of Conservative Party Conference READ MORE: Tory MPs to unveil 'manifesto for the north' including calls for dedicated cabinet minister and 500k new homes According to the government it is set to be used on local priorities such as reviving high streets, tackling anti-social behaviour, improving transport, boosting visitor numbers and growing the local economy.

However, Labour’s Deputy leader Angela Rayner, whose constituency is one of the areas set to benefit, accused the Prime Minister and former Chancellor of a ‘special kind of arrogance’ and described it as 'sham and a scam.' Mr Sunak said the project, backed by £1 billion of investment, was about putting “funding in the hands of local people” to improve their communities. “Towns are the place most of us call home and where most of us go to work” he said. “But politicians have always taken towns for granted and focused on cities. “The result is the half-empty high streets, rundown shopping centres and anti-social behaviour that undermine many towns’ prosperity and