Mary Portas has published her report into the state of Britain's high streets. Picture by BIS.

A NEW pilot scheme by TV retail guru Mary Portas to save the UK’s town centres has been launched in Hatfield by MP Grant Shapps.

Grant Shapps at the election meeting

Having been tasked with implementing recommendations from the Mary Queen of Shops star’s review of UK town centres in December, Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps chose his own constituency to announce the first stage of the scheme on Friday.

TV crews from national news channels were in the town centre to see Mr Shapps officially open the Town Team initiative – a £1m scheme which aims to find retail centres willing to set up dedicated committees aimed at revitalising its respective high street.

It is inviting towns across the country to bid for one of 12 places on the pilot scheme, with the successful applicants receiving a share of a £1m pot, to be spent on innovative new ways of breathing life back into shopping districts.

In a Government video launching the scheme, Mr Shapps, standing in Hatfield town centre, says: “Town centres across the country are really struggling.

“No surprise perhaps with the rise of internet shopping, that we all use, and with the number of out-of-town retailers.

“It does mean that the traditional town centre is going to have to do something different to survive.”

He adds: “We’re looking for 12 towns, throughout the country, who can show us what they would do if they had a share in £1m and put together their own Town Teams.

“They’ll get the expertise of Mary Portas and her team, the backing of the Government, and some of that cash.”

Mr Shapps previously urged Hatfield to bid for a place on the scheme – and it seems Hatfield is heeding that call.

On Monday, councillor Lynne Sparks announced via Twitter that she was likely to be Welwyn Hatfield Council’s lead on setting up a Hatfield Town Team.

“The Town Team is a brilliant idea,” she told the Welwyn Hatfield Times.