PLANS to improve the look of St Cuthbert's Lane in Carlisle to make it more attractive have been submitted to the city council.

The lane - which runs between Blackfriars Street and English Street - is a main thoroughfare into the city from car parks.

It is home to several shops including a beauty salon, two menswear shops, a cafe and a clothing alteration shop.

Plans submitted by Picton Property Limited in London show how the proposed works would be carried out.

The statement says: "The proposed design has been developed in order to modernise the appearance of the lane while maintaining the original historic character. Overall, the aim is to make the lane a more inviting and aesthetically pleasing retail area."

Work would be carried out on the timber shop fronts to replace damaged and decaying timber.

Stonework would be repaired and bricks would be repointed and replaced.

Projecting signs would be removed and replaced.

Ornate steel entrance signs, with gold raised lettering and black powdered coating background, would be installed at either entrance to the lane.

A new seating area would be added outside Coffee Genius at numbers 20 and 21.

The proposal says: "The area is to extend 2m from the shop front and be a total length of 10m."

Shopfronts and signs would be painted grey with white text added.

And the existing street lights would be removed and replaced with new street lamps.

Business owner Luke Jackson, who has recently taken over the running of Coffee Genius, said: "I love the vision for St Cuthbert's Lane. I would like to push the council to improve the flooring.

"We want to make our outside seating area as comfortable as possible for our customers."

St Cuthbert's Lane once boasted four pubs - the Lowther Arms, the Fish & Dolphin, the Shakespeare Tavern and the Farmers Arms. Only the Shakespeare Tavern survived to the State Management period, being acquired on July 29, 1916. It closed around 1920 and was later demolished.