Use your high street or lose it
■ I’M old enough to remember our once thriving high streets and have sadly watched their relentless demise as supermarkets and retail parks take customers from well established local retailers.
Not content with undercutting the small grocer on price, they set their eyes on nearly every type of retail business that gave towns and villages a stamp of individuality.
Unless we start to support our local shops we’ll be left with only cafes, estate agents and charity outlets in our town centres.
Councils and landlords could do their bit by reducing rent and rates and by cutting parking charges which would help level up the playing field with out-of-town sites. Brian Davies
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
■ The phrase ‘use it or lose it’ springs to mind when it comes to our struggling high streets. Let’s hope people return in droves to support local businesses.
Surely, no one wants our town and city centres to become like ghost towns.
D Butler, Blackpool
■ I fully support your campaign. The message is clear, stop buying goods online and commit to invigorating shopkeepers’ livelihoods. I’m hoping there will be a flood of consumers flocking to the high street to show to retailers that they have not been forgotten. Michael Smith Chatham, Kent
■ Everyone should get behind your campaign to support our local high street as we’ve seen too many well known stores disappear along with tens of thousands of jobs.
Businesses should be barred from buying up well known brands, keeping online and shutting shops.
The Government says it wants to create jobs so it must stop this sell-off, cut business rates and take proper tax from online retailers. Len Hayward
Market Harborough, Leics
■ I applaud your fight for the high street, but if shops want to stay in business they must have a rethink. Not that long ago, I could visit any high street and buy the likes of a fridge, TV or video recorder.
Now if I want an expensive item I have to travel further afield or buy it online. As someone who likes to see what they are buying, this makes life difficult. Surely big retailers could have small high street outlets where you an talk to a sales person.
Carol Doust, South East London
■ We continually hear about the high streets taking a battering with online sales, while public transport has been severely hit and the hospitality sector is on its knees.
If people continue to work from home what will become of London and our other cities and towns?
If employees don’t return to their place of work as soon as it’s safe the knock-on effect for our high streets will be huge.
Michael D McSherry Farnham, Surrey
■ I hope everyone returns to their local markets and shops. The big supermarkets and discount stores have had a bonanza during lockdown. I urge everyone to support their local high street.
Julia Barton, Newcastle upon Tyne