ALTRINCHAM has finished a runner up in the race to be crowned Britain’s best town centre high street.

Altrincham and Tamworth made it into the top three but were pipped to the post to be Rotherham at an award ceremony in London’s Admiralty House earlier today.

A record number of 230 high streets entered and nearly 200,000 votes were cast across the seven categories.

This year the public got the chance to vote for the first time, alongside a visit by an expert judge from the Future High Streets Forum. As a runner-up in the Great British High Street Awards 2015, Altrincham will now receive a share of a prize pot worth £80,000.

Altrincham was named a Runner up in the Town Centre category because of the ‘incredible improvement work’.

In 2010, Altrincham had one of the highest town centre vacancy rate in the UK at 37 per cent. Altrincham Forward, a public–private sector partnership, was formed to respond to the challenges.

To deliver a new vision for Altrincham, Altrincham First produced an action plan resulting in new investment, including comprehensive public realm works, a new hospital, transport interchange and a refurbished historic market house.

It also set up landlords’ forums and established a calendar of events. Altrincham now has vacancy rates of per cent.

High Streets Minister Marcus Jones said: “The excitement this competition has generated with a huge level of interest from the public vote is proof that high streets are the life and soul of towns, villages and cities across the country.

“Over the last year investment in property is up 30%, town centre vacancy rates have fallen to under 10% and retail sales have increased for the longest period on record – long may it continue.

“Altrincham deserves the very highest praise for being a finalist in this year’s Great British High Street Awards.

“Their innovative ideas and hard work on the ground really made them stand out and we’ll be sharing their excellent example to help others learn from their success.”

The Great British High Street Awards 2015 is run by the Department for Communities and Local Government and sponsored by Boots, Costa, Post Office, Marks and Spencer, Tesco and the British Council of Shopping Centres.

Now in its second year and is one of a number of initiatives to help champion high streets as the cornerstones of the community.