Sir, I was sad to read the letter in last week’s Herald about the closure of yet another shop in Abingdon town centre ('Shoe shop to close'). With some trepidation, I await news of its new proprietors – please not another bargain basement shop or café.

Residents of Abingdon have, over the past month or so, been inundated with information from the prospective parliamentary, Vale and town council candidates, extolling their various virtues. I am disappointed that plans to rejuvenate the town centre are so rarely listed in these communications.

A lot of money was spent updating the precinct, and yet many of those units remain empty. The mayor suggests that the town council is “trying to hard to increase the footfall”, and yet one rarely sees evidence of this.

Is anything being done to halt the vicious cycle of high rental, empty shops, and correspondingly low footfall in the town? If other towns like Witney can have a thriving, interesting and busy town centre, why not Abingdon?

Perhaps some of the candidates in the forthcoming election might like to make this a priority?

Victoria Adams (Mrs)
Kingfisher Close, Abingdon