Residents' sadness at shop closures in Worthing

People in Worthing say it is "sad" that more than a dozen high street shops in the town have closed recently.

Fifteen shops closed in the West Sussex town in 2023 and 2024, according to the latest Office for National Statistics figures, while there was also a 10% drop in retailers across Sussex - a total of 625 shops.

Some residents said there was "nothing to do in Worthing any more" – but others said the town was doing better than other places in the UK.

Worthing Borough Council was approached for comment.

"It has been pretty quiet, it can be very up and down," said Lorette Sprackling, owner of Bijou Boutique in Warwick Street.

"Because we've had quite a bad winter it's not been exactly busy but I think the high streets aren't as busy as they used to be.

"It's not a good sign to have that many shops empty. It's quite upsetting knowing there's that many shops to let."

People also complained about roadworks to install the Worthing Heat Network by Hemiko. The company helped introduce free parking days and bus travel into town to try to encourage shoppers to visit.

"I think Worthing is one of the lucky places where we have quite low vacancy rates with empty shops," said Paul O'Brien, who has owned sweet shop I Love Candy for the past 18 years.

He added: "I think compared to other places in the country we're doing okay.

"The Hemiko works are hopefully finished and we have done good work with them to bring in free parking days."

Worthing resident Claire Szaja said the town was "not doing as well as it used to".

She said the roadworks were an issue and that businesses were "struggling with parking prices going up".

"I have seen businesses cutting hours and even closing down in the last few months which is sad," she added.

Shopper Sally Richards said: "It's sad that there is hardly any big departmental stores now. But we do love coming here, it's central for everything and pedestrianised so it's good."

A spokesperson for Hemiko said it acknowledged the challenges businesses were facing but it was "committed to supporting the local economy" and to keep disruption from construction to an "absolute minimum".

• From 14-18 April, BBC South East will be getting out and about on our region's high streets. Catch up on BBC South East Today on BBC iPlayer and listen to BBC Radio Kent, Sussex and Surrey on BBC Sounds.

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