The green light has been given to buy two properties in one street as part of a town centre regeneration.

Dover District Council's cabinet voted to buy one site in Bench Street, Dover, for £2 million and another for £270,000.

The aim is to provide a new creative centre in the area, which will form part of a mixed-use development that will also include seven homes.

The go-ahead comes after the district last April got £3.2 million from the Government's Future High Streets Fund for town centre regeneration.

The cabinet also agreed to look into having a new crossing for pedestrians over the A20 Townwall Street.

This would be on top of improvements to the areas's existing underpass, whose town centre end starts at Bench Street.

These works are to increase footfall and local spending on the high street area.

They complement existing projects to rejuvenate Dover town centre, including the £9.1m Lottery funded restoration of the Grade I Listed Maison Dieu, Dover Town Hall, and a £2.95m Coastal Community Fund project to revamp Market Square.

A Dover District Council spokesman said: "We continue to develop plans to rejuvenate Dover town centre for the future.

"This includes key projects to enhance Dover’s cultural and creative offer and better connect the high street and waterfront, which are at the heart of our successful £3.2m bid to the Government’s Future High Streets Fund.

"The Future High Streets project includes major proposals for a new creative space, which we continue to develop, and we continue to develop proposals for a reimagining of the subway under the A20.

"As plans continue to evolve, we are at very early stages of working with partners to investigate the possibility of an at-grade crossing over the A20, which is being developed in parallel with continuing progress on plans for the renovations to the underpass.

"As we take forward our plans for the wider regeneration of the Bench Street area, we continue to work with the various landowners involved."

This week it was also revealed that a new hotel could replace for the former Co-op in the town.