A TOWN centre is still thriving despite the latest withdrawal of a major retailer, a councillor has said.

Nick Wallis, Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet member for leisure and local environment, said the town was not in "terminal decline" after department store House of Fraser’s proposal to close its iconic store on High Row.

But opposition councillors last night warned a radical approach was needed to prevent the “death of Darlington”, and accused the authority of being “too slow” to respond to the challenges facing high streets and town centres.

The comments came after House of Fraser confirmed its Darlington and Middlesbrough shops would be closing next year if proposals to rescue the struggling business are approved later this month.

The much-feared announcement followed news of the closure of Marks & Spencer in Darlington and Stockton earlier this year.

Cllr Wallis said: “I don’t agree with the people saying Darlington is in terminal decline or this is the death of the high street.

“We are going through a period of transition. The high street was dominated by department stores, but there was still housing, there was still leisure, bars, restaurants and small independent retailers.

“It has quickly spiralled – first there was Woolworths, then BHS, and now we’ve had M&S and House of Fraser – it has been one after another.”

House of Fraser’s decision will result in 267 Darlington workers losing their jobs, alongside 145 in Middlesbrough.

Nationally, about 6,000 jobs will go if creditors approve plans to close 31 of the company's 59 stores.

Cllr Wallis said Darlington had previously been seen as rivals to Stockton and Middlesbrough, as well as Durham, but called for them all to work together to find a solution to help rebuild town centres.

“Three million people are using the buses into Darlington every year, and 1.5m people are buying car parking tickets – we are still thriving, we are still doing very well.

“Places like Yarm have been hailed a success, but they still have quite a few empty shops despite all the free parking – so they are having exactly the same problem.”

“We are more than just M&S and Binns - we have got hundreds of retailers whether it be clothing, jewellery, bars, cafes, restaurants; we’ve got the Dolphin Centre and the indoor market.”

Cllr Heather Scott, Darlington’s Conservative leader, said: “It is really sad – I went into the shop this morning and the staff are just devastated.

“House of Fraser has been known to generations, but we have got to look forward and do everything we can as a council to deal with it.

“The council have been very slow in responding to what happened on the high street – we need to radically review what the strategy is or Darlington will die.”