IDEAS on how a market town can shrug off a decade of malaise go on show this month.

Richmond has always been popular with tourists but has recently been struggling commercially.

It has also suffered because Catterick Garrison, which is now the British Army's largest base in Europe, has even more facilities on camp, saving soldiers a three-mile trip to Richmond.

The collapse of Mercury Bridge in the summer floods of 2000 is thought to have cost the town's traders another £1m while the foot-and-mouth crisis the following year further delayed recovery.

Consultants Chris Blandford Associates have been working with Richmond Town Centre Forum and more than 40 other partners on a strategy for the future. A two-week exhibition opens at the Town Hall on Friday, May 23, to give people an opportunity to comment on what has been dubbed the Richmond Swale Valley Initiative.

Details are available at Richmond Library and at Ken Warne's grocers in the Market Place.