A £7.1 million restoration project has been completed in Leicester.

The scheme at Friars Mill was backed by funding from the European Regional Development Fund.

The project saw the facility transformed from a derelict site of empty factory buildings into a collection of modern workspaces for growing businesses.

Overall, 15 workspaces are available over its 25,000 sq ft site, with work still continuing on two new office units.

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It is hoped the project will act as a catalyst for plans to regenerate Leicester's waterside over the next ten years.

Plans for the transformation of around 60 hectares of land around the city's river are already in place.

City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: "Friars Mill is a wonderful collection of buildings and I am very proud that we were able to bring them back into meaningful and fitting use.

"The project has helped preserve a fascinating chapter in the city's industrial heritage by creating really attractive, modern workspaces where businesses can grow and build a prosperous future.

"Friars Mill will be a beacon of the wider regeneration of the Waterside area, and shows what is possible."

(LM)