ACTRESS and comedienne Elaine C Smith will take centre stage to help relaunch a shopping centre in her home town.

The star, who appeared in BBC television shows City Lights and Naked Video before shooting to national fame in the 90s in the sitcom as Mary 'Doll' in Rab C Nesbitt, is set to crown a major upgrade at the Brandon Shopping Centre by officially renaming it ... Motherwell Shopping Centre.

And the owners are hoping there will be a huge crowd of shoppers when Elaine takes to the stage in the mall on Friday, October 18.

Chester Properties has spent £450,000 on improve­ments, while the company has also teamed up with North Lanarkshire Council to provide free wi-fi for shoppers.

Director William Gear said: "We want to create a party atmosphere at the launch and Elaine is the natural choice to make it a memorable and entertaining event.

"We are delighted she accepted our invitation to officially unveil our new look, our new name and our new wifi system.

"We want as many as possible of our shoppers, traders and the public to come along and join in the fun".

Elaine said: "It was a fantastic thrill for me as a Motherwell girl to be asked to relaunch our local shopping centre. I just jumped at the chance to do something for my home town.

"I can remember the area before the centre was built and as school girls my pals and I used wander up and down Brandon Street, which is now the main shopping mall."

The hour-long ceremony will begin at 10.30am and for Elaine it is the second time in a matter of weeks she will perform locally after packing out Motherwell's Civic Centre with her one-woman show.

Mr Gear added: "There is a serious side to the ceremony because it marks some significant milestones in the development of the centre.

"We feel the new name better reflects our role at the heart of the town centre.

"We are immensely proud of our refurbishment programme, which creates a brighter airier look and atmosphere for our shoppers and should help us attract new businesses."

gordon.thomson@ eveningtimes.co.uk