EXETER is named today as the worst “clone town” in Britain with its High Street dominated by chains of fashion shops.

The city tops the league of 42 towns now offering identikit shopping with little local character. It has only one independent shop in its main street.

The findings are from a survey of 103 towns, with a population from 5,000 to 50,000, compiled by the New Economics Foundation, an independent think-tank. People were asked to list the first 50 shops they passed along a high street.

The make-up of most town centres appears to include Top Shop, Next, Marks & Spencer, Gap, W H Smith, Boots, Debenhams, Tesco Express or Metro, Sainsbury’s Local, banks, a mobile phone shop, a music shop such as HMV, and Pizza Express, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Starbucks and Café Rouge.

Hardly any high streets have a cinema or theatre, pet shop or veterinary surgery, off-licence, hardware store, dry cleaner or launderette. Travel agents were also difficult to find, particularly in London.

Andrew Simms, NEF policy director, said that the survey was a warning that other historic towns were under threat from poor planning controls.He said: “The key parts of our towns, which should be the beating heart of a community, have been hollowed out by the big chains.” Mr Simms believes it is time for communities to fight back. He even blames the proliferation of identikit towns for yobbish activity.

“They are a breeding ground for antisocial behaviour,” he said. “We’re not saying that chains should not exist, but the balance in town centres has gone too far. These are soulless and soul-destroying places. Yet when you have a vibrant, diverse economy, there is a level of community activity and life on the streets where you don’t get social breakdown.” The other worst clone towns are Dumfries, Stafford, Middlesbrough and Weston-super-Mare. Even Winchester is in the Top Ten.

An alert is also issued for a quarter of British places that are described as “border towns”. Ashford, Market Harborough, Oxford, Taunton and St Neots are “on the cusp” of losing their local identity.

Hebden Bridge, a market town in West Yorkshire, is, however, named the most characterful shopping centre. Other “home towns” with distinctive identity are Peebles, Hadleigh, Great Malvern and Lewes.

In London, 27 high streets were surveyed and 48 per cent dubbed “clone towns”. Wimbledon High Street is the most anonymous, followed by Hammersmith, Clapham, Stratford and Putney. Shepherds Bush, however, has the most variety, followed closely by Deptford,Bethnal Green and Brick Lane.

John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, is being lobbied to ensure that councils take greater note of local character.

The NEF is calling for a moratorium on all new takeovers of small chains and convenience stores by the supermarkets. It also wants the Competition Commission to force main retailers to limit their assets to an 8 per cent share of the market.

One suggestion is that developers should allocate a percentage of any new retail complex to independent outlets in the same way that councils often force housebuilders to include cheaper housing on estates.

TOWNS LISTED AS CLONES

Exeter
Dumfries
Stafford
Middlesbrough
Weston-super-Mare
Winchester
Newport
Dorchester
Cheltenham
Burton-on-Trent
Scunthorpe
Newbury
St Helens
Exmouth
Grantham
Sittingbourne
Darlington
Haywards Heath
Halesowen
Barnsley
Huddersfield
Northwich
Maidstone
Farnham
Lancaster
Maidenhead
Scarborough
Woking
Wakefield
Falkirk
Guildford
Kendal
Grimsby
Hitchin
Bury St Edmunds

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