A major project to breathe new life into the borough's five town centres is to be funded by Wandsworth Council.

Residents, community groups and businesses will be consulted to help high streets in Putney, Wandsworth, Battersea (Clapham Junction), Tooting and Balham become thriving commercial centres.

The council is working with a specialist consultancy to assess the health of each of the five town centres and will work with the relevant business communities to come up with a new vision for the centres.

It will then take on board the views of residents, property owners, businesses, investors, community groups and others via an online survey to draw up a shared vision, identity and strategy for each town centre.

The project is expected to continue through the summer with a final report due in September.

Councillor James Cousins, he council's business spokesman, said: "The UK's town centres are facing unprecedented challenges: an increasingly competitive business environment and changing shopping habits mean their future likely lies with a model that is quite different from what exists today.

"Our town centres are important places to shop and do business, but they also have a crucial role as defining and acting as centres of their local community. Ensuring the balance of both will be critical to their future.

"We commissioned the survey and visioning exercise to better understand how the five borough town centres can be positioned to thrive and to do that we want to hear from everyone who lives, works, relaxes or has any other interest in keeping our town centres healthy and vibrant.

"We want this to be a shared vision."

To take part in the survey visit www.wandsworthtowncentres.co.uk/. Click on the survey for whichever town centres you have an interest in.

The survey is also accessible via the TiCL app. Download it to your smartphone from the app store, or visit http://www.ticl.me/.