Bormida, population 394, is also offering homes to rent for as little €50 a month in effort to persuade people to move there.

The mayor of a remote village in northern Italy is offering to pay 2000 euro (NZ3200) to persuade people to move there to stop it from becoming deserted.

Daniele Galliano wants bolster the population in Bormida, a mountainous region in Liguria, north-west Italy, where just 394 people live.

As more young people move to the cities to find work, Bormida has become a ghost town and the mayor wants to find a way to boost the town's population.

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Galliano has posted his initiative to Facebook, and has tabled it with the local council.

The finer details of the offer would need to be approved by the council.

However, if the town goes ahead with the initiative, anyone who moves to Bormida from 2018 would be gifted 2000 euro.

"We're still working out the plan, but anyone is welcome to come and live here," one councillor told The Guardian.

"We're a small community but very welcoming. We're high up in a mountain area but also not far from the sea – it's a healthy lifestyle, the air is very clean."

Meanwhile, under the low rent scheme, waiting to be approved by council, a small property would cost 50 euro to rent, while a larger property cost would be no more than 120 euro.

Galliano said on his Facebook page the low rent scheme could be ready to be roll out in a couple of months.