THE final phase in the refurbishment of Accrington's main shopping street will begin in July and council chiefs have pledged that the work will be completed in time for Christmas shopping.

The project will see the street-scaping project, which was started last year on Broadway, extended up to the junction with Whalley Road.

The work will begin on July 17, take 14 weeks to finish and will cost £210,000, taking the total spent on the shopping area over £500,000.

Accrington town centre manager Bill Huntley said: "The planned completion date is at the end of October which gives us some time before the Christmas shopping period starts.

"Last year we ran it a little bit close to the Christmas lights switch-on with the first stage of the Broadway works and we hope to avoid that this year."

In addition to the council improvements in the town centre the owners of the Accrington's Arndale Centre have revealed that they are planning to spend more than £250,000 on improvements.

Work is to be done on the toilets and the multi-storey car park.