New glass entrance planned for Walsall's Old Square Shopping Centre

The second part of the centre's regeneration scheme has been given the go-ahead by Walsall Council.

As part of the work, seven units will be extended and redesigned to create five large stores facing the old market hall in High Street. Among the units earmarked for extension is the NHS Walk-in Centre, which is set to be relocated to the Saddlers Centre later this year.

The entrance to the Old Square and its service yard will also be spruced up and modernised.

Walsall's regeneration boss and deputy council leader, Councillor Mohammad Nazir said: "I like seeing the town centre being developed.

"I hope it will go ahead without delay. That side of town will be given a complete facelift.

"It will be fit for the 21st century. The Waterfront will be as well with all the redevelopment happening there.

"It's good to be party to Walsall being redeveloped and regenerated."

Old Square owner Threadneedle is spending £21 million on the project. The first phase includes the construction of a new Primark and Co-op supermarket.

The on-going regeneration of Walsall town centre also includes plans for St Matthews Quarter, which has seen B&M and Poundland sign up.

Multi-million pound cinema and leisure developments are also underway at Walsall Waterfront and next to Tesco Extra in the town centre.

There will be a nine-screen Vue cinema and restaurants, including Asian buffet chain Mimosa, in Littleton Street.

Meanwhile, a Light cinema plans to open at the Waterfront and the scheme also promises to bring Chiquito, Pizza Express, Bella Italia and Hungry Horse.

The projects are expected to create hundreds of jobs.

It emerged last month that Walsall had been highlighted as being among the top 10 towns in the country for the number of empty stores.

The Local Data Company said there was a 26.2 per cent vacant rate in Walsall, but council chiefs insisted it was actually 21.8 per cent according to their records.