Luton town centre awarded Purple Flag for its night-time economy

Luton town centre has been awarded the prestigious ‘Purple Flag’ for its evening and night-time economy for the fourth year running.

Like ‘Green Flag’ for parks and ‘Blue Flag’ for beaches, Purple Flag aims to raise the standard and broaden the appeal of town and city centres between 5pm and 5am.

Luton Business Improvement District (BID) funded the Purple Flag application and worked with Luton Council to showcase the town centre’s best assets.

Judges praised the transformation of a car park into a public space, which opened the Lea River, and its committed working group.

Julia Horsman, Luton BID manager, was delighted that the town was awarded the Purple Flag accreditation. She said: “It reflects the hard work the businesses and partners in the Town Centre are doing to encourage visitors to enjoy the evening and night-time economy, whilst keeping people safe.”

Cllr James Taylor, portfolio holder for regeneration and inclusive growth at Luton Council said: “It’s evidence of effective partnership working

which ensures we have a safe evening and nighttime environment as well as recognising the variety of places to eat, be entertained and the wonderful events, large and small.”

He added: “We do recognise that there are still challenges and we are working together to address these but when we see tangible evidence of improvements that people are enjoying, such as the lovely new pocket park in Bute St with the river running through it, we are genuinely excited”.