[derekgas]

I think the rents, and more so the rates are one of the main problems in town centres, in Accrington for example, I know of 2 retail units, one town centre, and one one the very edge of the town centre, similar sizes, one is newish, the other is an old building, one is £48,000 per annum rent, and the other is £7500 per annum, the rates for the cheaper one are £240 per month, (£2400 per annum, 10 monthly payments), so the council make a third as much as the owner of the building! I dread to think what the town centre units rates are.