CLITHEROE is a gem in East Lancashire’s crown with its winding streets and variety of small specialist shops.

Those shops draw people from a wide area who are attracted by the character of the town’s retail experience.

But Clitheroe’s market has never quite taken off in the same way and does somehow lack the charm of much of the rest of the town centre.

What’s needed is the sort of buzz to be found, for example, in the short-stay seasonal markets which began outside Manchester town hall a few years ago and have now mushroomed to fill various pedestrian areas around the city centre.

A report commissioned by Ribble Valley Council suggests the town should try to get a flagship store like Marks and Spencer, regeneration of the market site and pedestrianisation of Castlegate and the top of King Street.

Retail centres like Clitheroe need to be constantly reviewed if they are to stay successful and there is no doubt that improvements need to be made.

But great care must be taken not to turn the market town into just another ‘cloned,’ cold, high street which could be anywhere in the region.