I WAS travelling through Wilmslow last week and remembered I needed a pair of trainers.

I parked up near Waitrose, noting the 45-minute parking restriction, and wandered up Grove Street looking for a suitable purchase. After calling in a couple of stores, I finally found a pair I liked and asked to try them on.

They were a little tight so I requested a larger size. While I was waiting, I checked my watch realising I had only a few minutes to spare.

"Worried about the wardens?" the assistant asked. "We’re losing so much trade since they started dishing out tickets."

The trainers weren’t right so I made my apologies and left, just in time to find a warden checking the cars on my bay. Another couple of minutes and I’d have been the proud owner of a £50 ticket.

I drove down to John Lewis, parked up and took my time choosing not only a pair of trainers, but a whole summer wardrobe.

It doesn’t take a genius to realise what a godsend this new army of traffic wardens is for out of town stores. They’d have probably paid for it themselves had they been asked.

At the last count there were 38 vacant retail premises in Macclesfield town centre and not one single initiative from MBC to boost trade.

On the contrary, their only response to the calamitous situation has been increased parking charges, increased property tax, increased commercial waste prices and a town centre plan going nowhere.

It’s a textbook case of how to destroy the heart of a town. Is it any wonder retailers in all sectors are reporting reduced footfall and declining sales?

Congleton council, on the other hand, has responded with free town centre parking for shoppers, while somehow maintaining traffic flow in and around the town.

At least they appear to know what’s going on.

Christmas shopping was once an event in Macclesfield town centre. It was worth going into town to see the lights and soak up the atmosphere, but the last few years have been dire. Where’s the initiative?

Anyone can see the drift in trade to out of town retail parks, but apparently not our councillors, whose only response is to increase costs and generate uncertainty.

When McDonald’s moves out of town, you know that town’s in trouble. What more evidence do they need?

Remember the almighty rush on public scrutiny of the proposed town centre plans?

Residents got six weeks to appraise them and express their views.

You’d have expected to see some serious progress in the intervening years, but no one seems to have a clue what’s happening. There hasn’t been a brick laid.

Retailers aren’t going to commit to a town in terminal decline with no vision of where it’s going. No wonder we have so many empty shops.

In the meantime, every move MBC makes seems only to drive shoppers out of town.

When do they plan to act?

The views expressed on this page are Vic Barlow's and not necessarily those of the Express