I AM writing in reply to a reader’s comments about the negativity for St Helens town centre.

On my last visit into the town centre, which was only a few weeks ago, I witnessed two young men fighting in Church Square. This was the middle of the afternoon on a weekday. Not something to tempt me back.

Recently I went for a day out to Bury Market.

Bury has been awarded the best large town award for 2013-14. They also have an award-winning market, which every week hundreds of thousands of people visit. We were happy that 10,000 visited us over a couple of days for Summer Streets!

There are even coach trips laid on so people can visit Bury Market from far and wide. I can see why people visit. Everything is close by and well laid out, you can wander from busy markets to busy pedestrianised shops, then into a shopping centre.

Do the people spend money in the town?

You bet they do; the fruit and veg is cheaper than the supermarkets, so is the meat and your day-to-day essentials. What better than enjoying a day out and saving money on your weekly shop at the same time?

Yes, there were some empty shops, but that is the same for the whole of the UK, but the High Street chains are there in abundance: Primark, Lush, WH Smith, Burtons, Game and Next to name but a few. These shops are not moving out like they are in St Helens.

Why can’t we build up a market like we had years ago, create something that we can be proud of and let St Helens win the awards?

Let’s make St Helens somewhere that people will book coach trips to.

St Helens resident (Full details submitted)