Beacon at centre of plan to brighten up Camden Town

Plans to rid Camden Town of its scruffy, crime-ridden image are being unveiled today.

Businesses in the area are proposing to introduce public art, more trees and wider pavements.

The centrepiece would be a 30ft "Britannia beacon" beside Camden Town Tube station, creating a landmark and illuminating a shady area notorious for drug dealers.

MTV Europe, Emap, Proud Galleries and Getty Images are among firms backing the £7million plan to improve the area between Mornington Crescent and Camden Lock in time for the 2012 Olympics. Public consultation begins today.

The proposals were drawn up by Camden Town Unlimited, which was set up by 300 firms last year when they voted to pay an extra one per cent on their business rates to raise £2.5 million of extra funds to regenerate the area. It hopes public bodies such as Transport for London and the Greater London Authority will also contribute.

Chris Shaw, the organisation's chairman, said: "This is one of the biggest tourist attractions in central London. If you consider the many people coming to Camden Town and their experience when they arrive, it's shocking."

Simon Pitkeathley, chief executive of Camden Town Unlimited, said: "Camden has two fundamental problems - the level of on-street drug dealing [and] the infrastructure. This idea is designed to tackle both."

But Brian Coleman, the Tory London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden, said: "We need a new station and something much more radical than this. We don't need a 30ft beacon."