TRADERS in Clitheroe have vowed to stop charity shops taking over their high street.

And members of Clitheroe Chamber of Trade aim to make the town the first in the country where charity shops will have to be licensed.

They held an emergency meeting with Clitheroe councillors after three more charity shops were opened in the town centre, bringing the total to nine.

The town has earned a "charity shop city" tag with out-of-town bargain hunters.

Angry shopkeepers want a by-law limiting the number of charity shops in any one spot and want the shops licensed for better control.

Chamber of Trade president Nigel Pratt said: "We would rather see premises occupied, but charity shops enjoy unfair advantages. They get rates relief, VAT perks and the use of volunteer staff. "And because of their low overheads they can afford to pay high rents, which forces up the operating costs of everyone else."

His members are worried that the economic well-being of Clitheroe will be affected if too many charity shops take root.

Mr Pratt added: "Charity shops don't pay staff, don't advertise in local newspapers and don't use local builders. We have nothing against charities, but they bring little to the local economy."

He described the meeting as very successful and said his members and councillors would now be concentrating their efforts on changing the law.

"We will be working with the Federation of Small Businesses and Chamber of Trade branches across the country to effect a change in the law," he added.

"This is potentially a serious problem. There is a long way to go, but just because it hasn't been sorted out anywhere else doesn't mean it can't be sorted in Clitheroe."

Representatives of the charity shops were invited to attend the meeting but none turned up.

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans is currently pushing for a Parliamentary investigation into the charity shop row.

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