WINCHCOMBE is to get £100,000 from Gloucestershire First to help retailers and other businesses get back on their feet after last summer's floods.

The cash is being provided by Gloucestershire First, the countywide economic partnership, from the £1.1 million it has been awarded from the Severn Trent Flood Recovery Fund.

"We are extremely grateful for this funding which will enable us to continue the good work already carried out to put Gloucestershire firmly back on the map," said Councillor Chas Fellows, Gloucestershire First chairman.

He said £200,000 was earmarked towards restoring the county as a tourist destination in 2008 and £500,000 towards a project to repair and re-open some of the many public rights of way extensively damaged by soil erosion during the floods.

The £100,000 for Winchcombe - similar sums go to Bishops Cleeve and Tewkesbury -is a longer-term initiative. Tewkesbury also gets a further £140,000 ring-fenced to support retail and tourism initiatives in the town.

"This is a wide-ranging response to help alleviate the many problems faced by county businesses since the floods," said Coun Fellows. "Local people can also have their say by coming forward with their own projects, for which £50,00 has been set aside."