Businesses vote for London district improvement
Businesses in London's Camden Town have voted to back a scheme that will fund a series of initiatives to make the retail area a more pleasant and safer place to shop.

About 300 retailers and other commercial businesses in Camden Town, best known for its fashion market, were polled on whether to set up a Business Improvement District (BID) that will raise business rates by one per cent. The money will be reinvested into improving the area.

Half the retailers voted in the poll and of those, 84 per cent were in favour.

The BID will raise about£500,000 a year, part of which will be contributed to by Camden Council. This will fund measures including extra security, more graffiti removal, a series of cultural events and steps to upgrade the urban environment and street scene.

Camden Town Unlimited (CTU), which will launch on April 1, has been set up as the trading name of the Camden Town BID company. CTU chair Christopher Shaw said: 'This is an historic opportunity to re-establish Camden Town's prominence as a media, art, retail and business location and to energise the urban renaissance of this area. '