Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed more than £1bn will be made available for a further 45 town deals across England as part of efforts to tackle regional inequality.

In today's Budget, Mr Sunak emphasised the importance of ‘levelling up' the country and ‘redrawing our economic map'.

He confirmed that £1bn from the Towns Fund would be invested in 45 deals across England, a large proportion of which would go to the north and Midlands.

The Budget document read: ‘This will help to level up regional towns, giving them the tools to design and implement a growth strategy for their area and aiding local recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.'

Mr Sunak also said that the Government would accelerate investment in three city and growth deals in Scotland (Ayrshire, Argyll and Bute, and Falkirk) and three city and growth deals in Wales (Swansea Bay, North-Wales and Mid-Wales).