All 15 of Darwen's car parks are to be upgraded but the town's youth centre is to be completely knocked down it has been announced.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has revealed the latest stages of work on the £120 million Darwen Town Deal.

This includes the imminent start of works on a programme to improve the town's15 different car parks which includes everything from new surfacing to new road markings to the clearance of vegetation.

But the authority has also revealed that hopes of keeping part of the current Darwen Youth Centre in Knott Street as part of its £3.3 million transformation into a state-of-the-art hub for young people have been scrapped.

Using cash from the government’s Youth Investment Fund it is set to double in size adding a brand-new first floor a new creative workshop space, a recording and DJ studio, a gaming zone, multi-use spaces and upgraded outdoor sports facilities.

Knott Street Car Park closed earlier in the year to allow for survey works to be completed on the youth centre.

This included detailed ground investigations, which required the area to be closed for safety reasons and the car parks at the railway station and in Atlas Road were made free.

As a result of those tests, council bosses have now decided that the existing youth centre will need to be completely demolished despite best efforts to save parts of it.

But alongside this announcement borough leader Cllr Phil Riley has announced the imminent start of works on upgrading the town's 15 car parks.

Detailed plans for the modernisation and improvement of the Market Hall, Darwen Library and Darwen Library Theatre as part of a £26m investment in the town centre are set to be submitted for planning permission later this year.

Cllr Riley said: "There’s a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes on the impressive plans for Darwen.

"These improvements to the car parks are part of early works to help prepare for what’s to come."

Wayne Wild, chair of the Darwen Town Deal Board, said: "Over the next year, we’re going to see a great deal of progress on the investment for our town centre.

"This will include significant works to the Market Hall, to Darwen Library and Darwen Library Theatre and, of course, Darwen Youth Centre too, which is set to double in size thanks to funding secured from the Youth Investment Fund.

"This is all brilliant news for the town."