BY REBECCA ADAMS

FOR years now, Weymouth’s town centre has been drastically deteriorating, with the closure of many beloved retailers, which have been replaced with mostly empty buildings.

The high street offers very few of the popular branded stores which may attract more people to the town to shop.

You may argue that we have big name brands such as Debenhams and New Look, but we have all seen the closure of Topman and Topshop and have witnessed the abrupt rise and fall of Starbucks on New Bond Street.

Of course, if the town did boost its trade, it would be great to see independent businesses benefit from an economic boost.

However, without well-known retailers also sitting on the high street, it is hard to market the town as an appealing shopping experience to a wider audience.

You could argue that many UK tourist towns have benefited from the lack of branded stores and rely on many independent retailers, thus branding the town as a unique place to visit and shop.

This may not be the case with Weymouth, unfortunately.

There are many great independent stores in Weymouth which myself and many others have the pleasure of being able to visit by just stepping into our local town centre.

However, many of these are overshadowed by the poorly cared for empty buildings and repetitive stores.

The Weymouth Business Improvement District (BID) held a Multiple Retailers Forum on Wednesday as part of the Healthy High Streets Programme.

The programme sets out to help Weymouth’s town centre as well as 32 other towns.

Whether the programme will end up improving the high street, it is to be found out.

Nationally, high streets have deteriorated due to the rise in online shopping.

It’s easy, you don’t have to leave the house, and more than likely you won’t find it on the high street.

However, the town centres that have stayed alive are still here as they all have something to offer.

Bournemouth, for example, offers big name brands and places to eat, whereas somewhere like Bridport holds a large town market attracting visitors throughout the high street.

A lot of work has to be done before people will actively plan a day out to go on a shopping trip to Weymouth.