Daily Telegraph: "Councillors are as much to blame as powerful supermarkets for the demise of Britain's high streets"

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"... Professor Sparks sits on the advisory board of the Scottish Government's review of town centres, and has been invited onto the High Street forum put together in England by Mark Prisk MP and Boots director Alex Gourlay.

"He said the shoppers had to shoulder part of the blame, because they had stopped spending money with traditional high street shops - and switched to either the internet or out-of-town malls.

"But he said the seismic shift was hardly suprising, given how little there was to attract the public to the centre of towns. He told the Telegraph:

"We need local authorities to prioritise how they spend money and put more into town centres, from planning to the state of buildings. It's going to cost a lot of money to fix, but we have to find a way of getting people to invest.

It matters hugely. Towns are our economic and social hearts. And look at the soullessness and placelessness of alternative. Looks at parts of the USA and the problems they face. It really matters."