AN Arts Council chief has hailed the "remarkable work" of St Helens' creative renaissance during a visit to the borough.

Darren Henley, the chief executive of Arts Council England, was joined by Alison Clark, director in the North West and relationship manager Anna Hassan, in the town centre.

The delegates took in destinations including the Beecham Building, the town hall, Central Library and Langtree Park to learn about some of the projects being run by the Heart of Glass, and success stories.

The Heart of Glass, which launched in 2014 to revive the town's "cultural heartbeat", has recently awarded its fourth round of commissions which include collaboration with twin town Chalon Sur Saone and the St Helens Goes Pop! exhibition by Drunk Wolf.

At the town hall, the visitors met with council leader Barrie Grunewald and chief executive Mike Palin.

They also heard about the impact of Arts Council funded projects such as Cultural Hubs in the library.

After the visit, Mr Henley said: "It was great to meet the cultural leaders in St Helens and I really got a sense of how they are creating opportunities for local people to get involved in the arts.

“As part of my job as chief executive of the Arts Council I have been meeting people around the country who make arts and culture great – I have met some inspirational teams and have seen first hand the fantastic work they are doing, and St Helens is no exception.

He added: "The Heart of Glass project is doing some remarkable work changing the lives of people through arts and culture and I was really interested to hear of the partnership behind this and its connection to tradition such as rugby league.

"I also visited St Helens Library and heard about the Cultural Hubs programme which is transforming library spaces into hubs for arts activities.

"At the Arts Council we want to continue to invest in developing St Helens as a place where people can enjoy great arts and culture."

Patrick Fox, director of Heart of Glass added: “We were delighted to host Arts Council England staff last week and showcase the wonderful projects undertaken so far with their funding support.

"We've come a long way in a very short time as a project, and we look forward to continuing to support artistic practice to develop and thrive and create further opportunities for our communities to engage in the arts.

“Arts and culture has a big role to play in the development of our borough and we look forward to continued conversations and collaborations with Arts Council England.”