Oakham businesses and residents have formed a new group tasked with the economic regeneration of Oakham.

'4Oakham' is a six-person board backed by Rutland County Council, which will take forward the recommendations presented by the Oakham Task and Finish Group in 2018.

The task and finish group, formed by the county council in 2018, came up with ideas covering parking, traffic management, and a need for more mid-range shops to improve the town's retail offer.

Better town maintenance and more seats and planting were also called for.

When such plans were presented the group in 2018, it then worked on how to bring the town's residents and businesses on board to help push initiatives forward.

Rutland County Council Leader Oliver Helmsley said: "The Oakham Task and Finish Group provided some excellent insight into what is needed to rejuvenate the town.

"We wanted to ensure these recommendations were taken forward by the community in a sustainable way and are delighted 4Oakham has been established to do this."

Rutland County Council has provided '4Oakham' with seed funding and the potential to bid for further funds to develop and implement plans to revitalise Oakham.

'4Oakham' chairman Thomas Cooper said: "We may have a long journey ahead of us, but this is an exciting time for Oakham and we will be looking at a range of opportunities to rejuvenate the town including marketing and bringing the town's businesses together, looking for innovative uses of our vacant units and potential improvement works to our streets and spaces.

"To achieve this, we will be bidding for funding from a range of sources, including Rutland County Council. This will be a Community initiative, and local businesses and residents will be key to our success so that their aspirations can be realised."

'4Oakham' staged a meeting on Tuesday (March 3) with key stakeholder groups from the community to agree terms of reference and identify initial priorities to carry Oakham forward.