Market Drayton: most abandoned town in Shropshire?

As the road from Newport rises up Phoenix Bank, past the inspiring sight of the historic church and its soaring steeple, there is much to be hopeful about for a visitor to Market Drayton.

But the feeling, sadly, is short-lived. Along virtually one whole side of the High Street, every other shop is empty. Windows are obscured with giant "To Let" posters or painted with white polish, into which smiley faces have been drawn.

The other side tells a similar story, and as shops open in the early morning there is a barely a soul about. Further down, on Cheshire Street, a tatty notice board reads: "Welcome to our town."

It all begs the question: is this the most unloved town high street in Shropshire?

Landmark buildings, left to fester, have quickly become eyesores. The once popular Corbet Arms on High Street remains imposing, but now for all the wrong reasons. Weeds have grown as high as its boarded-up windows and paintwork has flaked.

"We have been told it's going to re-open as a hotel and restaurant, but it's been like that for years," says Carol Jones, who owns Jones's Coffee House. "It used to be the focal point of the town, a place where you would take your mum or your nan."

Carol's business is next door to what was Jeffro's nightclub and two further shops, both currently vacant. She has owned and run the family business here for nine years and has seen the decline happen before her eyes. How, since Argos and Wilkinsons opened up, a number of hardware stores soon closed down because they could not compete.

She points over the road to a furniture shop, now closed. "It used to bring people into the town," she says. "What do they come for now?

"The more places that are open at night the more people would stay in the town, but people say there is nowhere to go in Drayton."

The latest nail in the coffin, she says, are the parking charges introduced in April – an extremely moot point among many visitors.

These are tough, dark economic times and similar closures are happening on many high streets, but few in the county can surely have as many vacant premises as Market Drayton.

A quick count reveals there are 10 empty businesses on High Street alone, and it is only a short street. There are two more around the corner on Shropshire Street and a further couple on Cheshire Street.

But what can be done to revitalise Market Drayton? One positive aspect to perhaps pique the interest of new businesses – and prevent existing ones from going to the wall – is reduced rates. For businesses whose rateable value is less than £6,000, the rates are currently zero.

The rate reduction, in force until at least October, is something that certainly inspired hairdresser Lindsay Wilson to take over an empty shop on High Street.

"I was also helped by the landlord who gave me a few weeks' rent to start me off. I think if rents were lower it would encourage people to open businesses."

Lindsay, however, is a bright spot on a street characterised by empty shops. Walk along her side of the road, and you pass a property up for auction followed by the occupied ladies' outlet "qs", an empty Clinton's card shop, then Peacocks at the site of the closed down Woolworths, the vacant Corbet Arms, then Lindsay's shop, and finally another empty shop. That's every other shop shut down.

Further down towards Stafford Street are three more closed down shops, one a cafe where the tables are still laid, as though in expectation of customers.

Surveying the scene, Paul Bishop, born and bred in Market Drayton, says: "It's tragic. I know you should not go back to the past but I was thinking back about all the old shops that were here and we could not think of a single property that was empty – now you need a couple of pairs of hands to count them all on.

"I think a lot of shops were struggling, but when Woolworth went a few years ago, that had a big effect."

The onslaught of supermarkets and out-of-town shopping centres has also had a huge impact on people's shopping habits and on small traders' fortunes. A new Sainsbury's has just opened in the town, Netto has been taken over by Asda, and there's a Morrison's too. Market Drayton sits at the centre of a triangle of supermarket giants.

"Even just few years ago there were a number of individual shops such as electrical stores, that offered a personal service," Paul continues. "It was very much a community and it's lost that – the town has become a commuter place."

Colourful High Street market trader Eddie Whitfield sells veg outside three closed shops and says: "Look around, what do you see? Older people. Who are great, but younger people don't use the high street."

Russell Taylor, who runs Lloyd's Interiors on Cheshire Street, says his trade is down 38 per cent since parking charges were introduced in April and would not recommend anyone open a new business here right now.

"People don't think there's enough in Market Drayton to warrant paying £1.80 a day to park. Before April you could not get a parking space before 9.30am in Drayton, especially on market day, but now you can find them easily – what does that say? People are voting with their feet."

Russell says: "We would not be here without our internet sales. You would be a fool to open a shop in Market Drayton at the moment."

And the positives to help improve the town? "Get rid of the parking charges and re-open the public toilets," he adds.

On the tender loving care side of things, Russell says there is currently a £500,000 pot of council cash available to landlords to refurbish empty shops.

But he claims: "That's wasting money . . . they are not coming into town because Joe Bloggs has painted his shop."

Andy Brown, who owns a sports shop on nearby Shropshire Street and is the chairman of the town's chamber of trade, admits the high street in particular is in a state.

He says the chamber has been actively trying to promote aspects of the town and recently secured some cash to paint a derelict shop that had been an eyesore at the top of Stafford Street.

This, says Andy, had the positive effect of the Crown pub next door bringing forward its refurbishment plan.

But he admits: "If the big name shops are failing you know that you are on a sticky wicket. I think the survival of this town is going to be heavily involved with tourism – and the canal here is key."

Andy says there are an estimated 30,000 boaters sailing past a year and a scheme could involve the provision of a cycle station.

Furthermore it is hoped that a £450,000 market town's revitalisation grant earmarked to make improvements will do "what it says on the tin," says town councillor Roger Hughes.

"It could be used for anything which may be deemed to provide an economic benefit to the town. There was a grant to Festival Drayton Centre for equipment for the cinema and we are looking at other schemes.

"We want to encourage retail businesses to come into the town. We are working on projects now for getting people to move into empty properties."

Cllr Hughes admits he is concerned about the future of the Corbet Arms building but says one of the problems is that the High Street is a conservation area which can prove problematic in refurbishment.

"Hopefully put some money into the town centre to get people into premises, and to bring in the sort of businesses that we don't have at present."

It is to be hoped that a spot of tender loving care now, rather than the kiss of life later, will do the trick.