A NORTHWICH councillor has spoken of his frustration at the lack of co-operation from a national clothing brand in restoring the iconic building it occupies in the town.

Cllr Sam Naylor, who sits on the board of the Townscape Heritage Project, said the public had witnessed the sad decline and deterioration of the Burton store on Witton Street over several years.

Burton, which is owned by multinational retail company, Arcadia Group, and had a presence in the town for decades, has so far refused to take part in the scheme.

Cllr Naylor said: "It's really frustrating to get some of the occupiers of some of these shops to participate in the scheme.

"It's a very generous scheme, which offers to pay 70 per cent of any costs to refurbish the exteriors of the beautiful buildings in the town.

"You've got the likes of Arcadia, with all their cash, and they're refusing to participate and it's just so very frustrating."

Earlier this week, the heritage project announced The Post Office on the High Street had joined other businesses including Crafty Stitches, One 2 One and Hays Travel in taking part in the scheme.

More than £1 million has been available for businesses to take advantage of as part of the project, which aims to carry out repair and restoration projects on iconic town centre premises.

Cllr Naylor added: "There are plenty of really good people on this committee who are really interesting in the heritage of Northwich and have strong views on it.

"One thing that we all definitely agree on is the fact that it's such a generous project and we get frustrated by the lack of some of the occupiers willing to participate.

"We know one or two owners and tenants might be struggling financially at the moment and we understand, but that can't be the case with the likes of Arcadia.

"It's an iconic Northwich building that people have just seen a steady decline and deterioration over the years and it's such a pity to see it in that state."

Cheshire West and Chester council are hoping 31 businesses will take advantage of the project, which benefits from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Arcadia Group have been approached for a comment on the concerns raised by Cllr Naylor.