The Courier has reported that Perth and Kinross Council is planning an overhaul of St Catherine’s Square to ensure it fits in with the Mill Quarter development earmarked for neighbouring land. The authority also hopes to address concerns about a high number of empty, hard-to-fill properties.

The Mill Quarter project, which is scheduled to open next year, will feature a state-of-the-art multi-screen cinema, a mix of bars, restaurants and shops, as well as 58 new homes.

The development is being progressed by Expresso Property and will be built on the nearby Thimble Row car park.

The local authority is spending £7,650 on a feasibility study to support the “proposed regeneration and environmental improvement works” to all flats at St Catherine’s.

Glasgow-based ECD Architects have been tasked with carrying out the study and will report back to officers later this year.

Perth City Centre councillor Peter Barrett, who heads the authority’s housing committee, said: “The council is looking for proposals for the regeneration of St Catherine’s Square.

“Despite having a great High St location there is a high number of vacancies and the square is becoming harder to let. I believe there is real potential for regeneration and transformation here.”

The Lib Dem councillor added: “With Espresso Property’s multiplex-cinema, retail and restaurant development at Thimble Row, right opposite the flats and the improvements starting to take hold at St Paul’s, the time is right to consider how best to invest in the properties to further energise and re-animate this part of the city centre.

“I am looking forward to seeing the proposals in due course.”

St Catherine’s Square recently hit the headlines when Royal Mail said it would no longer deliver mail to all properties in the square following an assault on a female postal worker two years ago.

In recent years, some of the 54 flats have been used as emergency accommodation for the city’s homeless population.