A MILLION-pound makeover of two Eastleigh streets will launch an urban renaissance in the town centre to provide a fresh new image and boost trade.

Civic chiefs have backed an improvement scheme for Factory Road to link new homes on the Pirelli development to the town centre and another for a high-profile section of Leigh Road between High Street and The Point dance and arts centre.

The move has been heralded as the most significant makeover in the town for many years.

Work is expected to start next August to create a pedestrian and cycle-friendly 'green street' route between the Pirelli development and the town centre, plus improve the appearance of Factory Road.

The £495,000 project will transform the road into an attractive boulevard with chicanes and build-outs designed to cut traffic speed.

Junction priorities will be changed and new street lighting installed, and all footways will be improved and designed for easier use by wheelchairs and pushchairs. A greater proportion of car parking spaces will be designated for use by local residents.

Councillors on the borough's Eastleigh Local Area Committee also heard that work to install closed-circuit TV in the street was due to start early next year.

Welcoming the scheme, committee chairman Councillor Steve Sollitt said: "Anything that is an environmental improvement is a major plus point. Factory Road is one that is used by many but loved by few."

Work in Leigh Road could cost as much as £517,000 and a start date of February 2006 has already been pencilled in.

Again, the idea is not only to smarten up the stretch of road on the edge of the town's central recreation ground but also to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment.

The scheme involves a traffic light-controlled pedestrian crossing near The Point, getting rid of yellow line road markings, limiting parking to designated areas, raising the surface of the road and widening footways.

There are also plans to create a new paving link across the road between Holy Cross Church and the recreation ground, provide space for wedding and funeral cars to stop outside the church, add new trees and street furniture and replace an ugly brick wall near the church with railings.

Councillor Peter Wall said: "This development, together with Factory Road, must be the most significant makeover in the town centre for years."

Councillor Glynn Davies-Dear added: "We have had a glimpse of the future of Eastleigh and it is exciting."