A GRANT of £2million has been allocated by the government to 'enhance' King Street, Cheshire East Council has revealed.

Clr David Topping, from CEC, gave a presentation to Knutsford Town Council on Monday informing members the money had been allocated for the town.

This follows a series of consultation events held in December, which showed what the street could look like.

However, Clr Topping told the Guardian on Tuesday that the money would 'not be around forever'.

"The money will not be there forever and we need to make a decision," he said.

"If we don't spend it then it will disappear. It's normally about two years, as when the government give a grant out they want to see some results from it.

"The money is there and we want to help Knutsford."

During the consultation the council received more than 400 observations from members of the public, with 74 per cent of those saying they were in favour of what had been presented.

But Clr Topping stressed that this was not about pushing a scheme on the town that it did not want.

"We're not trying to sell this to Knutsford," he said.

"The money has been granted because of the request from the town to see some development. King Street was scene as the centre of that and we have consulted with as many people as possible.

"Some people want the pavements widened, some want pedestrianisation, and then there is opposition to both of those schemes. We've consulted with as many as the businesses as we can and some want cars to park on King Street so the elderly population can pop in to the centre in their cars and others want it to be totally pedestrianised.

"The next step is to display the consultation results to the people.

"This is a scheme for the people, by the people and we will provide what they want."

Andrew Malloy, from the Knutsford Town Plan, said the scheme was moving in the right direction.

"We've been keeping the pressure on for quite a few years and it's great to know that there is some money there to be used on the project," he said.

"We have to make sure we have the right scheme. It is a very fine balance and there is a lot more work to be done. As Clr Topping said at the meeting there is a lot of talking to be done with people, both residents and businesses.

"The results from the consultation are really positive but the actual amount that was received was quite small. It does seem to be moving in the right direction."

An update on the consultation will be announced in the 'near future'.