Recession hits market towns hardest

A rise in unemployment and plummeting spending power have caused Shropshire's market towns to be among the hardest hit as the recession continues to bite, a report claimed today.

The Government's rural watchdog, the Commission for Rural Communities, has found that England's 1,600 market towns have suffered with unemployment overall rising by a third more than in the nation as a whole.

Together with Shropshire's ageing population and low interest rates reducing savers' spending power, grim economic conditions in the county have dealt market towns a triple blow.

CRC chairman Dr Stuart Burgess said: "Market towns are suffering economically because they are often supported by the hinterland of little villages dotted around.

"In places like Shropshire and Herefordshire where the population is ageing, the fall in interest rates means the people with the most spending power are earning less on their investments so their spending has plummeted and it has a knock-on effect for the local economy.

"The lack of spending stops the extra money coming into market towns."

He added that CRC research also showed that the number of vacant shop units nationwide has increased over the last six months. He singled out Skillbuilders in Ludlow as a project which was helping breath new life into market towns.

It encourages young people aged 14 to 16 to train for artisan craft employment, harnessing the volunteer skills of craftspeople to provide after-school employment taster and training activities.

Roger Turner, head of rural economies at the CRC said: "In the economic downturn, market towns have been particularly hard-hit."