County councillors have clubbed together to help freshen up the High Street.

Grants totalling £35,000 will be used to improve street furniture, signage and footpaths.

Roger Truelove (Lab), Mike Baldock and Lee Burgess (both UKIP) will use £10,000 from councillors’ shared highways budget to fund the project.

A total of £25,000 has also been agreed from the council’s general highways fund.

Cllr Truelove said: “The High Street is now a shocking site. Its regeneration must be at the centre of town centre planning. This is a signal of where we need to go.”

Negotiations about the makeover, which is due to start in the autumn, have reportedly been taking place for “nearly a year”.

It will include the painting of benches, streetlights and bins and the removal of “unnecessary bollards”.

Alternative materials are being sought to enable better distinction between paths and roads. Improved signage will also be installed.

Cllr Baldock said: “Sittingbourne is a great town, which is rich in heritage.

“We want to start encouraging new retail, and to do that we need to show that we believe the High Street has a future.

“These plans are the first steps towards reversing the neglect.”

Nick Smith, chairman of Sittingbourne Retail Association, said the cash award was “absolutely fantastic”.

“It’s just what the town needs,” he said. “Everything suggested so far sounds great.

“It’s definitely needed because there are so many loose cobbles. It’s quite dangerous when the High Street’s pedestrianised.

“Cllr Truelove promised to do something when he attended one of our meetings a while back, and it’s happened.”