That's just what we need.

I'm always interested to see what happens when a business closes in Chelmsford High Street. I see it as an indication of what is going on in the economy and something of a reflection of society and our values. Woolworths  was a favourite store of my childhood in Chelmsford and I was sad to see it go. There was a certain irony in Barclays Bank moving into the premises given their contribution to the meltdown of our economy and the demise of many businesses in the subsequent recession.

Another closure in Chelmsford High Street was Jessops the camera shop. The building has been vacant for some time and today I discovered who has moved in, William Hill the bookmakers. That's really what we needed in our city's High Street, another bookies. It's not enough that I can't watch a football match on television without various loud mouthed characters shouting the odds at me for five minutes at a time, shop by shop they are taking over our town and city centres. One of the factors in Jessops' demise was the on-line market which meant they just couldn't compete. There is a preponderance of gambling sites on-line but it doesn't seem to have had too much of an impact on betting shops given the number we now have in Chelmsford. Perhaps it really is a statement about what is going on in our economy and what values we espouse as a society.