IT is obviously unfair for a Darlington burger bar to blame its business woes on being unable to benefit from England’s later matches in the World Cup.

KerbEdge was denied extra footfall at its Feethams branch when violence by idiots marred an early screening and understandably prevented others from taking place.

If you are basing your business model on England reaching the semi-finals of a World Cup, you are clearly an optimist who is going to have to wait at least 38 years to turn a profit.

It is also obviously unfair that the workers, who gave their time and efforts in good faith and without any share of the risk or the reward of the business, should lose out, in some cases for a second time. They should be paid what they are due as soon as possible.

There is something more profoundly worrying about this story. The café and night-time economy is said by some to be the future of towns like Darlington who are losing their more traditional high street retailers.

This is the second restaurant to close this year at the town’s flagship development. Converting to this night-time economy is not going to be as simple as build it and they will come. People clearly are not magically coming.

This transformation is going to need some serious contemplation. Feethams is a glistening modern bauble, and its multiplex cinema is very welcome, but in creating this development, the centre of gravity has been pulled southwards away from the north end where Marks & Spencer is about to close. Feethams has actually increased the town centre just as we are told that it needs to be shrinking to fit in with the economy of the future.

If anyone is under any illusions that we can easily solve our town centre’s problems by building gleaming new night-time attractions, the difficulties at Feethams must surely dispel them.