TOOK a walk down Newgate Street, in Bishop Auckland, this week and counted the number of premises that were open compared to those shut.

There were around 240 businesses open and 38 closed.

I could see at least four of these having work done inside as if they were preparing to open, which is a positive sign. Apparently the national average is around 30 per cent unoccupied premises compared to Bishop Auckland which is around 17 per cent.

There was a good mixture of national chains from Top Shop, Burtons, Boyes, Clinton’s, Holland & Barrett and countless local independent shops. Some of these have been in the town for hundreds of years such as Choice, Gregory’s Bakery (1850), Brothertons (1842), Warren’s Lighting (1920) and Chittock’s.

Yes we all know the town is never going to go back to the “good old days”; people’s shopping habits have changed. Supermarkets are partly to blame for having everything under one roof, while online shopping has grown considerably over the last few years.

People are blaming the Tindale out of town retail park for the decline in the town. However there are only about 15 shops there. People’s perception is that it is always busy, but little do they know that nearly half the car park is used all day with the staff from these shops which means very little turnover of actual shoppers.

The simple answer is that if people don’t use the shops in the town then they will inevitably close.

G Briggs, Bishop Auckland.