Years ago when you walked through Widnes town centre there was shops, shops and shops.

Now you walk through the town and you see nothing but empty shops, vape shops, corner shops, nail bars, hairdressers, phone repair shops, fast food shops, casinos and betting shops.

You have shops closing and names not renewing their leases because the rates are to high.

You have one corner of Albert square just full of empty shops and it doesn't look good for the town.

Remember when they built Widnes shopping park and they had their flagship store there of Marks and Spencer, they said with a name like that we will draw in the businesses.

Erm where are they? The only businesses that have come are Superdrug, JD sports, another Card Factory, a new corner shop, a casino, another mobile phone repair shop, another betting shop and a new takeaway up near Halifax bank.

Where as you have had the likes of Whsmiths, Shoe Zone and Cassandra's close due to the high rates.

You have places like Warrington, a simple town like Widnes, but they seem to have more decent shops than us plus they have just rebuilt their market space to attract more.

We have something to offer that most towns don't have in free parking. And the owners of the town should use this to there advantage

The owners of the town need to open their eyes and look at what they are bringing in to the town and need to look at the rates that they are charging or very soon they will be owners of a ghost town.

DAVID PENNINGTON
Widnes