BUSINESS owners have backed a project to bring £800,000 of improvements to Abingdon, including 24-hour multi-storey car parking and free wi-fi.

The polls opened at the beginning of last month for businesses to cast their votes on whether to introduce a Business Improvement District (BID) in the town centre.

After nearly a month of balloting, on Friday it was announced that 58 per cent of 148 businesses had voted in favour of the Abingdon BID.

In December 2012 a £4.5m revamp of the Bury Street precinct was completed by Scottish Widows Investment Partnership but two large units remain unfilled and the Co-op closed earlier this year.

BID project chairman Mike Hurley was delighted so many businesses had thrown their weight behind the plans.

The owner of Dream Doors, in Stert Street, said: “The BID represents a really bright future for Abingdon and by working together, we will be able to achieve great things for the town with this investment over the next five years.

“We have lots of work ahead of us over the next six months, but the BID will be good and ready to start delivering business and customer benefits to Abingdon and we look forward to working alongside the businesses in the coming months.”

A BID involves companies in an area of a town or city paying a levy towards a business plan, which funds projects to increase footfall, raise sales turnover and improve the area’s profile.

For the BID to be set up, businesses need to vote in favour of the project, which set out a five-year plan for the town centre.

The Abingdon BID was launched in September, and promised more than £800,000 of investment to the town over the next five years. Plans include installing free town centre wi-fi, creating a town marketing strategy, organising events to boost footfall and improving parking by having electronic space signs and directions and lobbying to open the multi-storey car park 24 hours a day.

Businesses in the BID district will now have to pay 1.75 per cent of their rateable income into a ring-fenced fund – predicted to total £800,000 over the five years – which will be used to run the BID projects.

The BID area runs from the River Thames in the south, around Abbey Gardens and enclosing Thames View to Audlett Drive in the west.

It then goes north to Radley Road, along The Vineyard and Stratton Way to Ock Street, as far east as Cooper’s Lane, then south to the junction of St Helen’s Wharf and Wilsham Road.

The BID will come into effect in April, but the team plans to spend the next six months setting up the BID company, which will have a board of directors drawn from businesses in the town.

Town council leader Sandy Lovatt said it was good news for the town and he was delighted with the amount of investment the project will bring.

He added: “Abingdon, like every other market town has suffered because of people shopping online.”