A quarter of Lowestoft shops empty in wake of 'cultural shift'

One in four shops in a town centre in Suffolk are empty, councillors have been told.

A report to East Suffolk Council's strategic planning committee has highlighted how 96 out of 366 shops in Lowestoft are unoccupied.

Council officers warned that towns may have to "shrink" their shopping areas in the wake of a "cultural shift" and a move to online trade.

However, two shop owners told the BBC they had enjoyed good Christmas trade.

"Though this general shift will not affect all centres equally, it may be necessary for the resilience of some centres to shrink their overall retail areas, and instead offer a 'quality over quantity' range of goods, services and experiences to their communities," said the report.

The report, presented to councillors, said most other town centres in the district had vacancy rates that compared "favourably" with the national average figure of nearly 14%.

Adelina Hariga, who opened Alpyn Toys and Games in London Road North two months ago, said it had been a "good Christmas" selling "family board games and card games".

However, she said: "I think trade in the middle of the town was better than here, because a lot of people don't come up here and there are fewer shops here."

Matt Wade, who runs Annatar, an "alternative" gift shop in London Road North, said: "We just got busier every day as we got closer to Christmas.

"The first couple of days in January were slow, but obviously everybody's pushed their wallets as far as they can for Christmas and the New Year, but it's now starting to pick up again.''

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