WANDERING around Dorchester town centre on a sunny morning, it is great to see so many people going about their business be it popping out for some brunch and a coffee with friends, doing errands or even starting their Christmas shopping early.

So why is it so many of the shops are closing or are in fact empty?

Seven shops were vacant last count in Antelope Walk alone, which is such a little gem within the town. An area that should be encouraged to prosper as an attraction.

The loss of the Tourist Information Centre was, I feel, a set back and drew away prospective customers from the area.

However, the real villains in the demise of the shops are the landlords.

One shop told me they are expected to pay a lease of £13,000 a month, before other outgoings.

Dorchester is becoming a victim of greed, the internet not the only villain in the story.

Tourists love individual shops, Marks and Spencers is a must for most high streets, but cheap card shops, pound stores and charity shops have much less appeal and stand as tombstones rather than a variety of shops in a thriving centre.

When shops stand empty, the landlords aren't earning their tidy sum then are they.

So, surely it would be better to reduce costs but by doing so keep the town alive and still make a fairly tidy profit.

Brewery Square and Poundbury seem to suffer the same fate, shops come and go in a flash. And there are some shop spaces that are now being made into flats.

£3,500 a week, £13,000 a month, £156,000 a year which is just one shop.

Others may well pay even more if size and location are factors.

Even with the upkeep of the premises being taken into consideration, how can the cost be justified?

J CLARK

Dorchester