I WENT to Kidderminster town centre on a recent Saturday and noticed that while there were many market stalls, a lot of the shops were boarded up.

Is it just me or are the two related?

It seems to me that the tacky market stalls are putting people off shopping in Kidderminster. So many shops closed can’t just be put down to the recession.

The market, together with the amount of chewing gum under foot, discourages me, at any rate, from spending very long in the town centre.

CLIVE JEFFERSON Roden Avenue, Kidderminster