I HAVE lived in St Helens all my life and I care passionately about the town, its history, culture and people.

Growing up, I loved visiting the town centre, with its vibrant market hall, specialist shops and department stores like Helena House.

Today, it is a shadow of its former self — almost a ghost town with empty units, charity shops, pound shops and betting offices.

For many years we have been losing quality shops — those unique to St Helens, as well as high street chains.

This week we learn that one of the few remaining quality shops, Tyrers, is about to close.

It’s time for residents of this once proud town to say "enough is enough!".

I’m sure politicians might blame online shopping or the development of out-of-town retail parks, but aren’t the likes of Warrington and Wigan affected by these same issues?

Yet they seem to have thriving centres with quality chain stores like Debenhams sitting alongside other specialist retailers.

What practical steps are the council, our MPs and partners planning to take to bring about regeneration of the town centre?

An open public discussion would be a good starting point.

Geoff Jackson,

Eccleston