A DENBIGHSHIRE town centre has been nominated for one of the UK’s most prestigious high street awards.

St Peter's Square and adjoining streets in Ruthin have been nominated for the Wales region of the Great British High Street (GBHS) Awards run by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The awards seek nominations from across the UK to celebrate the best high streets and champion ‘Rising Stars’ – a category for “the most ambitious high streets which are taking a lead and working together to revive, adapt and diversify.”

It is believed that St Peter's Square, which is being considered as a high street because the town does not have one, will be judged in this category.

Gavin Harris, deputy mayor for Ruthin, said: “Ruthin Town Council and all those involved in Ruthin Future are very humbled by the nomination and are grateful to the local community for their support, but we recognise that we now need to work together to deliver some of the projects put forward to ensure a sustainable future for the town.”

Ruthin has been nominated following its proactive work in facing up to challenges affecting its town centre through its week-long Ruthin Future Week initiative, in which the town council and 2,000 participants collaborated through public consultations and exhibitions to develop a toolkit and masterplan to generate community-supported approaches to regenerate the town centre.

The two key projects being discussed as a result of the Future Week are the purchase of the town’s vacant Old Courthouse, formerly Barclays bank, to create a visitor, civic and community hub, and a scheme to replace the roundabout in St Peter’s Square to form a pedestrian and event-friendly space.

A Ruthin Tidy Town Team, a volunteer community task force, was also established with £10,000 funding from the town council.

As part of the GBHS, applicants are asked to nominate a ‘High Street Hero’, for which the town council has proposed Ruthin Décor, a 30-year-old family-run interior decoration business that recently moved to the town centre.

In their nomination, the town council said Ruthin Décor has “made a contribution to the vibrancy [of the town centre] and encouraged more shoppers to visit”, as well as encourage other retailers to take on vacant units in the centre.

Cllr Harris said: “Ruthin Decor were an obvious candidate for submission as High Street Hero for Ruthin, as they took a bold step during the recession to move back into the town centre, reinvigorating their own business and their area of Well Street in the process”.

Winning high streets become eligible to receive up to £10,000 for their community.

The finalists will be announced later this year after the shortlisting period is complete.