A HI-TECH revolution could be on the way to Selby if the town’s bid for a share of Government money is successful.

Selby is aiming to secure a slice of £1 million which will be split between 12 towns across the UK with the aim of reviving and regenerating their high streets.

One of the schemes proposed will be a state-of-the-art collection of Quick Response codes placed at points of historical or cultural significance around the town, which could be scanned by smartphones or tablets and would inform visitors about the site.

Selby’s town team, made up of Chamber of Trade secretary James Dunwell, Eva Lambert, of the Globe Community Cinema, Richard Sharp, of Mollie Sharp’s Cheese Shop, and Coun Steve Shaw-Wright, will present their suggestions for the application at a meeting tonight.

Mr Dunwell said: “It’s very clever, but very expensive. What we’d really like to do is make Selby a 21st century market town.

“We’ve got to appeal to the younger people as well. We want the younger generation to buy into it being their town to secure the longevity of the scheme and keep them loyal to the town. We have to be traditional, but we have to move with the times as well.”

The Portas Pilot scheme has been launched following the review of Britain’s high streets by retail expert Mary Portas, who recommended they should be run by “town teams”, who would have responsibility for developing local businesses and town centres.

City of York Council this week announced it would like York to be one of the pilots, and was working to bring together several local initiatives, but Mr Dunwell said they were among about 300 applying for the funds.

He said: “We aren’t charity cases, and that’s the biggest hurdle. It will really come down to how the Government decide what they want to get out of this. With Olympia Park, the Marina, Wetherspoons and Tesco development, there’s a lot of investment going on in Selby, so people might ask why we’re asking for it, but it’s up to the assessors.”