SOUTHAMPTON is to miss out on a share of £675m worth of funding which could have transformed the High Street.

Civic chiefs said to be disappointed as the bid put forward by Southampton City Council (SCC) to receive a multi-million pound boost from central government has been unsuccessful.

But city bosses said this will not stop their plans to improve the city and stressed they will apply for the funding again next year.

As reported, SCC had applied to receive up to £25m towards new projects which could have seen the Bargate being opened to the public and improvements to better connect the area from West Quay across to the new Bargate development and down to Debenhams.

The authority had previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the cash could have also been used to further enhance the opening up of the city walls and bring forward new uses beyond retail.

But earlier this month High Streets Minister Jake Berry MP announced that SCC is not among the more than 50 local authorities who will go through to the second phase of the multi-milion pound fund.

City council leader Christopher Hammond said: " Southampton City Council is disappointed not to have made it through to the next round of the Future High Streets Fund process on this occasion. With over 300 bids for the funding, which was open to all 326 councils with planning powers, competition was extremely high. We are, however, reassured by the positive feedback we received on our bid. In a letter from Jake Barry MP, Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth, Southampton City Council was informed that, although unsuccessful on this occasion, we will be offered bespoke feedback and will be considered and supported for the next round of the Fund, which will begin early next year. We very much welcome this reassurance given the effort and creativity that went into the bid."

The bid was put forward by the city council with the support of Go!Southampton, the Business Improvement District (BID) for the city centre.

Its chief executive Giles Semper, said: “We’re obviously disappointed not to have secured the funding this time around however there will be other opportunities and we are already poised to enter the next round of the fund. This latest news doesn’t mean our ambitious plans won’t come to fruition – it’s simply a case of waiting for the next opportunity to access the funding, which will be early next year."