MORE than £40,000 is to be pumped into making Bewdley a better place to live.

A series of grants will be used for a wide range of community projects - from looking at installing CCTV in the town to sorting out Bewdley's numerous transport issues.

The majority of the money comes from Opportunity Bewdley, a charity set up in 2001 to secure aid for the town, which is dishing out more than £33,000 to seven projects.

A further £7,540 will be awarded to Bewdley Town Council by the Government for projects to "benefit the local community."

Opportunity Bewdley said the money they have secured is a response to the needs of people and organisations in the town following its popular, and often volatile, public meetings.

Programme manager Gail Fenton said: "This money will benefit greatly the people of Bewdley including the business and voluntary sector."

The majority of the cash, culled from grant agencies and councils, is to be invested in tackling Bewdley's transport concerns.

A survey to find out why people in rural communities do not travel into the town will be undertaken during the next month while the charity has now secured the majority of funding needed to employ a full-time transport officer to be based at the Load Street office.

Mrs Fenton said: "The officer will set up and manage a variety of vehicle and transport projects as well as promoting walking and cycling initiatives.

"The project officer will look at the feasibility of a shuttle bus as well as focusing on providing opportunities for growth of local community transport schemes such as Toc H "thumb a lift" and social car sharing.

"This project will rely heavily on feedback from the public, in particular, the parish survey."

Bewdley's long awaited plea for CCTV to be installed in the town also moves a step closer to reality with a grant of £3,200 to West Mercia Police who will use the money to see if such a scheme would work and how much it would cost.

The rest of the cash will be used to study what needs to be done to improve the town's footpaths, to draw up a list of community organisations for people in the town and to carry out £7,500 worth of improvement work to St George's Hall to make access easier for the disabled.

Bewdley Town Council will discuss what to do with its grant of £7,540 at the next meeting of the council on Monday, March 31.