EMPTY shops which were supposed to be transformed as part of a regeneration project five years ago are still lying empty.

North Finchley received almost £1.1 million from the Mayor of London’s Outer London Fund in 2011, to which £380,000 was added by Barnet Council to rejuvenate the area.

Around £120,000 of that money was supposed to be used to breathe life into three empty shops in the Grand Arcade, in High Road, but nothing has been done.

Traders and neighbours have now been left furious and are calling for answers.

Kelly Mcmenamin, who has managed The London Balloon boutique in the Grand Arcade for 16 months, said: “The money has gone absolutely nowhere. It was a complete waste of the taxpayer’s money.

“I spoke to a few people about the money last year, but I never heard back from them and have had no answers. Three units in the arcade are just sitting there empty, It is a complete shambles.”

The empty spaces were due to be turned into a gallery, workshop spaces and hot desks for everyone in the area to use which has not happened.

Instead, the money was spent on washing the floors and tearing up the old carpet in the arcade.

Mukesh Rathod, who has owned Gold Leaf Jewellers in the Grand Arcade for 17 years, said he was given no input and has been left furious.

He said: “We were not consulted on it at all. I think the arcade does need a modern look to it, if you asked people on the streets what is in the arcade, they would not know.

“People come in the arcade and say they thought we were closed, because there was no lighting and work to clean the area going on outside. We are lucky we have been here for so long, but our business has suffered and we had to almost rebuild ourselves.”

The authority said the aim was to ensure the area continues to grow, to encourage more people to visit it and increase footfall for businesses.

Nearby Nether Street, Tally Ho Corner, the market and the library were also earmarked for improvement and benches were installed in car parks.

Meanwhile £80,000 was put towards creating a town team, marketing and promotions, retail training and support young in people in the area.

Helen Michael, who owns Café Buzz in High Road, was involved in the process and said: “It is so frustrating, it would have been so easy, £1m is not a lot but it would have been so easy to spend it wisely and make a difference.

“I feel really angry and I feel strongly that -this could have made a difference. but it didn’t. It would have been better to get a million pounds, and gather the people of north Finchley to watch the money burn, because it would have created more of an interest. It’s been an absolute shambles from start to finish.”

A ‘cultural quarter’ project around the arts depot in Nether Street and Tally Ho Corner, was given £580,000.

Decluttering and improvements along the High Street added it up £290,000 and £127,000 was given towards the Olympic torch celebrations.

To mark the passing of the Olympic torch through the borough, North Finchley hosted an aerial theatre and dance show, a free performance for everyone at Victoria Park.

David Guttmann, of Torrington Park, said: There were ideas for pedestrianizing areas, and greener places in the area. Little seems to have been done on these points - the traffic is worse as is pollution, as the A1000 High Road is always very busy with large numbers of lorries. "The general state of the streets is worse now, since the council seems to have cut the number of street cleaners.

“There may have been some improvements but we are hard pressed to think of them. The environment appears more run-down and a bit depressing.”

The Times Series requested comment from Barnet Council, who said it had "nothing to do" with the running of the Ten Grand Arcade.