 The festival will celebrate the culture of Reading's Oxford Road |
Residents, businesses and community groups in an area blighted by drug crime and prostitution are being urged to help restore pride to the streets. They have only three weeks left to sign up to the Oxford Road Community Festival in Reading, Berkshire.
Council bosses are keen for as many people as possible to apply for the �250 grants to run an event.
The week-long series of festivities, which starts on 27 September, will show a brighter side to the troubled road.
The area has become the focus of high-profile police efforts to tackle drug-dealers and the sex trade over the past year.
On Friday, two suspected crackhouses were shut down close to the road.
Now the borough council wants to make sure people take part in the festival to show what else goes on in Oxford Road.
Groups have until Monday, 21 June, to apply for a grant and can find further details on the road's own website, www.oxfordroad.info
It is hoped the festival will become an annual event.
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