AN MP has asked for some celebrity help for an ailing town centre.
Simon Reevell wants Mary Portas – better known as Mary Queen of Shops – to revive Dewsbury.
The Conservative MP is concerned after Dorothy Perkins and WH Smith announced they will close their stores in the town this summer.
Mr Reevell has asked Ms Portas – the Government’s new high street adviser – to help retailers in Dewsbury.
“We all know the problems that town centres have been experiencing,” he said yesterday.
“We have to halt the decline that has taken place over the past 10 or 20 years and make our high streets attractive to businesses and consumers again.
“I’m delighted that the Government has launched this review and I hope Ms Portas will come to Dewsbury so that she can see for herself the sort of problems that need to be tackled.”
Ms Portas, star of BBC2 show Mary Queen of Shops, will visit high streets across the country in the next few months to talk to shopkeepers.
She will present her report to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the autumn.
Dewsbury town centre has suffered two major blows in the past few weeks.
WH Smith will close its store in Princess of Wales Precinct when the lease expires on June 30.
The company blamed “excessive” rent for the decision to leave the shopping centre. However, WH Smith’s shop in the town’s bus station will remain open.
Dorothy Perkins has also decided to quit the Princess of Wales Precinct.
The fashion store will close by the end of July with the loss of nine jobs.
