Plans by Barrow Borough Council to spend some of their £1.1 million funding from Historic England on two town centre shopfronts have been met with scepticism and derision in some quarters.

Barrow Borough Council received additional funding of £100,000 for Duke Street, and plans to introduce designs reminiscent of Barrow's 18th and 19th century past.

77-79 Duke Street, which operates as a probation office, and 84 Duke Street, the Chinese takeaway ‘New Taste’, have been chosen to undergo the revamp, as part of the Barrow High Street Heritage Action Zone bid, which aims to reinstate historic shop fronts, carry out building repairs, improve the public open space and deliver a series of cultural events over four years.

Readers are not convinced that the funding is being spent wisely, as Barrowbrave commented:

"The council received £1.1 million from Historic England to restore Barrow's History, so the first two shops they picked were in Duke street, a Chinese takeaway and a probation office?

"It's a wonder they didn't decide to rebuild the House of Lords in Abbey Road.

"The money would be better spent on doing up every shopfront in Dalton Road to improve the whole town centre."

Barbara Broadhead also doubts the wisdom of the location:

"Duke Street is one of the few tidy streets in Barrow and currently Abbey Road is in a far worse state.

"The buildings on Abbey Road have equal heritage value to Duke Street.

"Years ago I worked in a group of people trying to save the old Technical College and we were visited by a Senior person from English Heritage. 

"As he came out of the station onto Abbey Road he saw the Duke of Edinburgh and later told us that it was one of the most architecturally interesting buildings he had ever seen.

"When you consider how many buildings he must have viewed in his career. that is some accolade."

Frank Kendall thinks that historical restoration is misguided:

"In the past, all the shop fronts had sun canopies and looked great, but that was the late sixties and early seventies. before the superstores took over and ruined the town centre, never to return to greatness again I'm afraid to say.

"The good old days cannot be replaced."

READ MORE: Ambitious plans to restore Barrow's history unveiled