Councils will have access to a £50m fund to help prepare for the safe reopening of high streets and other retail spaces.

The Reopening High Streets Safely Fund will enable councils to install a range of safety measures such as new signs, street markings and temporary barriers.

The money can also be used by councils to reassure the public that commercial areas are safe and outline the changes made.

The funding will be allocated to councils on a per capita basis and is coming from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Cllr Kevin Bentley, chairman of the Local Government Association's People and Places Board, said: 'Councils also need a greater say in how remaining European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) are spent. This is vital so they can target funding towards efforts to lead local areas and economies through this pandemic and readjust to life when it is over.

'It is essential that all funding is spent in our local communities and not sent back to Brussels when the ESIF programme ends.'