Former Corrie actor defends village celebrities

A FORMER Coronation Street actor has blasted claims that celebrities and footballers are turning the leafy village of Prestbury into a ghost town.

A national newspaper reported that celebrities moving into the village had pushed up prices but ‘never used’ the local businesses, forcing business owners to ‘desert’ the village.

Charlie Lawson, who played Jim Macdonald in the soap and runs the Prestbury Village Farm Shop, said: “We get sick of people printing rubbish about Prestbury.

“There are people in the village who don’t support it but lumping everything on footballers and celebrities is rubbish.

“Golfer Wes Bryan is a regular at my shop and Paddy Mc Guinness comes for breakfast.

“And Robbie Savage and Freddie Flintoff are always shopping in the Co-op and eating in the Indian restaurant.”

Charlie, who lives in Alderley Edge, also refuted claims that Prestbury was turning into a ghost town, saying he understood two new restaurants were about to open up and that a new retail outlet would replace the recently closed Spirit of The Andes shop.

Arthur Dicken, chairman of Prestbury Parish Council, said blaming footballers and celebrities for reduced trade in the village was ‘rubbish’.

He said: “There has been a declining footfall in the shops but the Parish Council is not blaming footballers or celebrities in any way for this. This is totally unjustified.

“Internet sales and out-of-town shopping are the reasons for it and Prestbury is no worse in this respect and a lot better than a lot of other towns and villages.”

He added that friends and family often reported seeing Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney, and Stoke City’s Peter Crouch and Stephen Ireland patronising local businesses and said that things were ‘looking up’ for the village in this regard.

He said: “We are working hard on enhancing the attractiveness of the village, both for tourists and locals, and the decline in business is reducing.

“Property prices have always been high because people want to live here.

“We have a great school, a nice centre and great links to the motorway.”