Funding for Southampton City Council's plans to pedestrianise part of Portswood Broadway has been extended.

The authority has confirmed that money provided through the Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) is still available for the controversial scheme.

The support is being provided from the Department for Transport after it was extended to cover the 2024/2025 financial year.

The Portswood Broadway plans will be funded by both a TCF grant and match funding. 

READ MORE: Portswood Broadway discussions begin after controversy

It comes after the council's original business case to the Government was previously approved.

The city council was branded ‘insane’ when its cabinet unanimously voted in the highly controversial scheme in January this year.

The plan to pedestrianise part of the Broadway is aimed at making the area ‘greener and more vibrant’.

But motorists and local businesses have lashed out about the impact it will have.

It was at the centre of a huge debate since it was initially spoken about in 2020, sparking more than three years of consultations, protests and record-breaking petitions.

The scheme is expected to move forward in early 2025 with the introduction of a part-time bus gate.