South Ayrshire Council will spend more than £100,000 on creating improvement reports for Ayr town centre.

Burns Statue Square and the old Affleck's block behind the town hall have been identified as key areas.

The reports will be created by architects, surveyors and economy experts and the council aims to "keep as much of the work as possible in-house".

Funds will come from the council's uncommitted reserves ahead of £17m budget cuts.

Executive director for resources, governance and organisation Valerie Andrews said: "This is the right time to consider new ways of enhancing the town and we've approved funds of up to £103,000 to explore significant improvements around Burns Statue Square and the Affleck buildings for community use.

"There is an expectation that as much of the work as possible will be carried out in-house."

She added: "With major projects now well underway to transform the historic heart of Ayr, there are already clear signs of positive progress in the town centre, with the programme of change being delivered by our partners at Ayr Renaissance.

"The new council offices, planned to kick-start the first phase of the Riverside block development on High Street, will see up to 300 staff relocate, with Burns House likely to become an obsolete property that will eventually be demolished."