Defeat for town team

An action group set up to breathe life into the old part of Kidderminster has been forced to admit defeat, with shops still boarded up, it emerged today.

Phil Boden, who helped set up Blackwell Street Revival, said the scourge of empty shops was getting worse and the group had been powerless to stop the continual decline.

Mr Boden said: "Independent shops are struggling and there are more and more boarded-up shops. It is a constant battle, and I do not think we are the main priority."

The Blackwell Street Revival group was formed in 2006 to draw shoppers back to Blackwell Street and Lion Street following concerns that focus has shifted to the new Weavers Wharf retail complex on the other side of town.

Traders vowed to work together to keep their businesses afloat and prevent Kidderminster from being taken over by big-name chain stores.

Sandra Wolfenden, of the Natural Break cafe in the Swan Centre, said: "If the plans for the town happen, it will be great, but at the moment it's like three towns of Crossley Park, Morrisons, and Weavers Wharf. People moaned a lot but stopped going to the meetings."

Plans to regenerate the town around Worcester Street are in the pipeline but a planning application has yet to be submitted.

Town centre manager Jackie Roberts is striving to improve the area and attract new businesses and investments. She works part of the week for Weavers Wharf and the rest of the time for the whole town centre.

Miss Roberts has told business leaders and shopkeepers that her priority is to fill more empty units around the town.