BERWICK town centre has seen shop vacancies continue to increase during the past six months, according to a new survey.
The Local Data Company reveals that 7.39 per cent of units in Berwick were empty in December compared to 5.54 per cent in June.
There has also been a substantial increase in vacancies since December 2008 when only 2.52 per cent of the town centr
e's shops were empty.
However, the picture in Berwick is not as bad as other towns across the country. The north east has a vacancy rate of 14 per cent and the national average is 12.9 per cent.
The survey looked at more than 700 town centres. Berwick was placed 313th.
Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: "The fact of the matter is that Brits now do a lot more shopping over the web, so we're seeing a fundamental reshaping of high streets.
"The next government will need to balance cuts in spending with ideas for reinvigorating regions that have suffered from years of underinvestment.
"This doesn't mean simply building more shops, but a thorough re-evaluation of what we need and how we take existing empty properties and use them for other things.
"We must encourage councils to make it easier for people to convert shops and people must accept that we won't go back to the high streets of yesteryear," she added.
