WARD councillors have said local residents will suffer if money to regenerate Liden village centre is cut.

Three years ago it was announced that hundreds of thousands of pounds was being made available to bring the urban village centres across the town back to life.

However, Derique Montaut (Lab, Liden, Eldene and Park South) says that very little has been done and the amount on offer has gradually been reduced and now stands at just £30,000.

This has been refuted by council chiefs who say the final amount for Liden has yet to be decided.

In February 2012 a pot of £900,000 was announced to help bring the centres back to life but by July 2013 this had been slashed in half with very little work being carried out.

Now local councillors are saying this money has been cut again and fear nothing will ever happen.

Coun Montaut said: “The council leader at the time announced this with great fanfare and we all thought it was fantastic news. We all thought this would be the start of something new but nothing has happened.

“To start with there was £150,000 available for Liden and then this was cut down to £70,000. I have just found out that this is now to be cut again. How are people supposed to trust politicians if they are promised one thing which never materialises?

“As far as I am aware no work has been carried out. If they keep cutting this money then nothing will happen.”

Coun Montaut’s comments have prompted an angry reaction from the lead member responsible, who says the exact figures have yet to be decided as it is tied in with another regeneration.

Coun Dale Heenan (Con, Covingham and Liden) said: “It comes as no surprise that Coun Montaut has run to the media, rather than try to work as a team. £130,000 remains available for Covingham Square and Liden Centre improvements, with £65,000 each. The tender for Covingham Square starts on January 26, with a target start date of March 16.

“Officers have simply been prudent in keeping councillors up to date to understand what really are the priorities for Liden. “Until the Covingham Square tender is completed the exact figure isn’t going to be known.”