A row of shops in Liverpool once earmarked for demolition are being rented out for £1 a year in a bid to boost the local area.

The first tenants to move into the shops on Smithdown Road include funeral and bereavement specialist Jayne Hayter and Italian baker Luca Sanvittore.

Ms Hayter said it was an “amazing opportunity” to establish her business.

Liverpool City councillor Nick Small said the move was helping the area to become “a vibrant retail hub”.

Ms Hayter, who sells funeral and bereavement flowers and runs a grave maintenance service, said: “I wouldn’t have even dreamed of having this opportunity without the pound scheme.

“It’s just an amazing opportunity to not have that financial pressure.”

Mr Sanvittore said the scheme meant he had been able to realise his dream of opening his own Italian bakery in Liverpool.

“For me baking was just a passion,” he said.

“The vision was to open my Italian bakery and do what I normally experience in Italy.

“I had the opportunity to be a baker in Liverpool and then I realised it could be my path so when I had the opportunity to apply for one of these shops, I applied.”

The £1 shop scheme follows the city’s council’s successful Homes for a Pound programme which launched in 2013 to bring 179 homes in Granby, Kensington and Picton back into use.

Shop tenants will pay £1 a year in rent for the first three years, with a capped commercial rate for the following two.

There are restrictions of the type of business that can open and they cannot duplicate what is already on offer in the area.

Tenants are also required to carry out repairs and refurbishment themselves and must have finance in place.

Councillor Nick Small, cabinet member for economy and growth, said the scheme was about “giving people with great ideas and a solid business plan the chance to get their venture off the ground, without having to worry about rental costs in the first three years”.

“Shops and businesses are a vital and integral part of a successful local community,” he said.

Adding, new businesses were “great additions to the growing offer on Smithdown Road which is fast becoming a vibrant retail hub”.