"CLEAN up your act" - that's the message from a Bournemouth councillor concerned about the state of a row of empty properties in the town centre.

Town centre councillor Bob Chapman said he is "appalled" at the condition of the units in St Peter's Road, which include the former Plush and PurEssence nightspots as well as smaller shops.

The buildings will be known to many as the former Maples furniture store, which was destroyed by a bomb in 1993.

Cllr Chapman said: "The whole building is a disgrace, it gets worse as you walk along.

"The windows and doorways are filthy, there are tattered posters everywhere and some of the entrances have been damaged.

"It looks really bad, especially in such a key town centre location. The owners of the buildings opposite have put a lot of effort into making sure their businesses look smart and appealing and they are let down by those on the other side of the road.

"My message to the landlord is 'clean up your act.' In any case, nobody is going to come in and take on properties that are in this state - it makes no sense to leave them looking so shabby."

A spokesperson for managing agents Goadsby, who are also marketing the empty units, said they already had plans to improve the state of the buildings.

"The residential flats above are almost all full but of the commercial units below, only two are currently occupied," he said.

"We have been instructed to carry out quarterly cleaning of the unoccupied units and that will take place within the next week or so and will include jet washing of the windows and clearing of fly posters.

"We have also had instructions from our client to redecorate and maintain the canopy above the units. The contractor has been instructed and that will happen within the next few weeks so we anticipate people will see improvements soon."