The closures of betting shops may kill the highstreet

Deptford High Street in London.

A recent call for the amount of betting shops and payday loans may be the death of the high street in Britain, argue council chiefs.

A change in planning rules which is designed to rid high streets of undesirable shops may result in town centres being swamped instead by banks, building societies, accountants, lawyers and estate agents.

The government proposal means that the aforementioned businesses will be able to purchase shop premises at the expense of small, independent retailers, according to local government chiefs.

Business will no longer require planning permission to take charge of coveted sites, since they will be put in the same category of the A1 planning retail classification as these small independents. Until the recent planned change, they have been classified as A2 – which require permission for a change of use.  This category, however, will be scrapped so a new classification can be created for payday loan and betting shops.

Speaking to the Daily Express, Clyde Loakes, of the Local Government Association environment and housing board, said: “If we want to get people back out shopping in their local high street, we need to give them more say on what type of businesses and shops open.

“Blanket national policies are not the answer and instead will give them much less.”

And a spokesman for the British said that the new measures were “designed to get empty and redundant buildings back into productive use.”