A BID is being made to bring more visitors into Ludlow to help provide a boost to local traders.

Money from Shropshire Council and the regional development agency Advantage West Midlands is being committed to a campaign to boost the profile of the town.

The initiative will try to boost tourism numbers throughout the year rather than have a situation in which visitor numbers are seasonal and focused upon special events such as the Food Festival. At the centre of the initiative will be a publicity campaign that will go alongside the publication of a new visitor guide.

A tourism group headed by Carole Clayton, chair of the Chamber of Trade, and including Cittaslow Ludlow, has decided to use funding to appoint public relations consultants Bruce McMichael and Alison Burhari to lead the work.

“News and local stories with a wider interest will be gathered, including stories from the local grassroots businesses and organisations that make Ludlow special,” said Tish Dockerty, of Ludlow Chamber of Trade.

The tourism group is encouraging people throughout the town to present ideas about how to raise the profile of Ludlow and get more people from the surrounding area and further away to visit.

A meeting of the group will be held on Tuesday at the Royal British Legion in Mill Street, starting at 5.30pm.