MORE than two thirds of people in Liverpool think the benefits the city centre road works will bring is well worth the inconvenience, a new report claims.
The public's backing for the Big Dig forms part of a piece of extensive research which lifts the lid on what local people and tourists really think of Liverpool city centre.
Council leader Warren Bradley said: "There is an unprecedented level of work going on in Liverpool at the moment and that is causing a certain amount of inconvenience for residents and visitors. But the benefits of all of the projects will be immense and make a huge difference to the lives of local people.
"The short-term pain is in the interests of the long-term regeneration of the city. The results of this study show that local people have the foresight to realise that."
As part of the study a team of researchers held lengthy face-to-face interviews with almost 1300 people in March who gave their frank and forthright opinions on city centre life - and the results make fascinating reading.
The research, conducted annually for the last four years, shows that seven out of ten people feel safe in Liverpool city centre at night with almost everyone - 97% - feeling safe during the day. Street and building lighting, together with CCTV, have the most positive affect in making people feel safer at night.
Cleanliness in the city centre continues to improve with more than four out of five people saying it is average or better. Two out of five people (42%) rate it positively - an increase of 16% since 2004. Only 18% rate it negatively, a figure which has halved since 2004.
Seven out of 10 local people positively rate the city centre's shops (70%) and 84% of tourists positively rate the city's retail offer.
And more than half of the people interviewed supported the idea of Liverpool becoming a 24-hour city (52%).
People's perception of begging as an issue in the city centre continues to fall from, down from 65% in 2004 to 41% in 2006.
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