Town suffering as trade evaporates

Ludlow traders have echoed the comments of a businessman who is closing his shop in the town after losing £20,000 in a year.

Jim Smithers, who runs Jim Smithers News in High Street, said trade in the area of the town he had his business in was at risk of dying off.

He will shut up shop on May 22 after 10 years of trading in the town.

Most traders on Broad Street and the square, at either end of the High Street, reported business had slowed down.

Margaret Edwards, of EJ Poyners in Broad Street, said: "Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are the busier days for us, but Mondays to Wednesdays are terrible now. The trade is just finished up this end of the town."

She said the loss of Woolworths and Spar had not helped the situation.

Deborah Gaudin, at Broad Bean, also in Broad Street, said: "We are ticking over, but we are not doing as well as we should. I think the town is really suffering.

"I think towns go in and out of fashion and maybe it's somebody else's turn."