BASINGSTOKE residents have expressed their anger and upset over the state of the town’s high street after this newspaper last week revealed the number of empty units stands at an all-time high.

Once famed as a shopping destination and the envy of residents across the county and beyond, Basingstoke has suffered in recent years and now has 50 vacant shops.

Despite this, the streets are still filled with hopeful shoppers, as reporter Jemma Cullum discovered on Monday.

But many were unhappy with the current state of affairs and questioned what action was being taken by those responsible at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Festival Place to improve conditions for businesses and shoppers.

Alan Stone, 56, who runs Squirrels Antiques in Joices Yard, is shocked and saddened at the town’s demise.

Mr Stone, whose business has operated in Basingstoke for more than 40 years, said: “When we first opened the whole of the Top of Town had around about 250 retailers and there is now less than 17 retail shops and that is appalling for a town the size of Basingstoke.”

He thinks the council should support small businesses and said Basingstoke needs to be more proactive in attracting retailers. He believes that there are currently no incentives for independents to start trading in the town.

John Voges who runs Limpopo Biltong, a food stand in Festival Place, added: “It is quite disturbing to be honest and I don’t know what they are going to do about it.

“I think the council must drop the business rates and maybe the owners of the complex should drop the rent and then try and fill the shops back up to get people back into the centre.”

Mr Voges said seeing half of the shopping centre empty, doesn’t bode well for the future of Basingstoke.

Shoppers also shared their sadness. Retired Ian Skelton, from Basingstoke, said parking charges set by the council had put off customers. The 65-year-old said: “I think nowadays it is really difficult to even consider coming into town.”

He said: “We used to come into wander around but now all the big ones are gone. Debenhams and John Lewis, they have all just disappeared and there are now a lot of shops that no one goes in.”

Mr Skelton added: “The biggest problem is figuring out what is going to draw people in with all the big stores closing.”

He said he thought it would help if landlords supported businesses by lowering business rates.

Meanwhile, Michael Williams, 74, said the town has changed considerably over the 50 years he has been living here. He said: “It is really sad to see all the shops [that used to be there] gone.

“We are really going to miss all the general hardware shops for buying all the bits and pieces. The likes of B&Q don’t really cater for it in the same way.”

Mr Williams said he thought the council should be doing more to attract people into the town with free car parking.

John Prike, 87, has lived in Basingstoke for 12 years. He said money needs to be invested in the Top of Town. “It’s really sad to see all the shops go, it used to be lovely here,” he said.