FREE WiFi, a major town event and two large LED screens - these are just some of the plans in place to improve Poole town centre.

They are part of the five-year business plan of the Poole Business Improvement District (BID) which was established last year.

It comes after a number of concerns about Poole High Street and its long-term viability were raised during a recent council meeting with one councillor claiming the High Street is “dead on its knees”.

But BID manager Carlie Palmer says there is a lot being done to improve the area - including the introduction of free WiFi across the entire BID area next month.

Mrs Palmer believes this will make a huge difference in getting people into the town centre.

“We have a captive audience with people who work in Poole on a daily basis - but we need to bring those people out of their businesses at lunch time and into the shops,” said Mrs Palmer.

“That is the challenge for us, getting people who work in the area to engage in all aspects of the town both professionally and socially and the introduction of free WiFi will be one way of encouraging people to do that.”

The project is being delivered in partnership with Fusion WiFi and is set to go live within the month.

According to Mrs Palmer there are plans to bring back a Christmas event to Poole - the BID quickly put together an event last year which saw Santa return to the town by boat. There are also plans to bring a major event to the town and install either large LED screens or smaller information touch screens around the town.

“It’s a really exciting time for Poole at the moment,” added Mrs Palmer. “I know we have a lot of challenges ahead of us but there is so much passion in Poole to improve the town and make it better for businesses and shoppers.

“I know if we can deliver our business plan we can improve the area so much and make sure that people earning pounds in Poole are spending them in Poole.”