The Government has announced 14 new pilot areas that will receive tailored expert support to assist in rejuvenating their town centres.

Communities secretary Robert Jenrick has announced the first 14 of 20 pilot areas that will benefit from the £3.6bn Towns Fund, which was announced last July.

The fund, which includes a £1bn High Streets Fund, is designed to help high streets adapt to the modern trading environment.

According to the Centre for Retail Research, 61 shops closed every working day on Britain’s high streets during 2019 with over 2,750 jobs lost every week.

The Government announced the first 101 places to benefit from the Towns Fund last summer.

The pilot areas will get support and guidance from the High Streets Task Force, which gives face-to-face support, access to research, online training, and local footfall data.

‘Having announced the first 101 high streets that can benefit from £25m each back in the summer, I am announcing support from our new High Streets Task Force for a further 20 places and naming 14 of these today,’ said Mr Jenrick.

‘The Task Force will provide the tools they need to get the best advice possible and a dashboard of key local data.

‘Central to the mission of this new government is levelling up towns and regions, ensuring prosperity and opportunity are available to everyone.

‘Over the course of 2020, we will invest hundreds of millions into projects to transform our town centres and support bespoke plans to meet the needs of individual local communities.’