WASTEFUL shops in Worcester's High Street are damaging the environment by blasting hot air into overheated premises and leaving lighting on all night.
A study of the city's High Street shops has been undertaken by the new environmental coalition group One Planet Worcester, which wants to encourage retailers to help save the planet - and save themselves a few pennies - by being more energy efficient with their heating and lighting systems.
The group claims the results show just how wasteful some of our biggest high street names can be, with Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, Costa Coffee, H&M and Clinton Cards among the worst offenders for cranking the heat up.
The survey uncovered huge differences between in-store temperatures, with more than half the 48 shops surveyed measuring above the accepted retail temperature of about 20C (according to the Chartered Institute of Business Services Engineers), and one in eight being heated to 23C or above.
Even worse, although the survey was done on a freezing January afternoon, almost three-quarters of the stores either kept their front doors open or had no front door at all. Only three shops had the energy-saving combination of a cool temperature and a closed door.
Robert Wilkins, one of the organisers of One Planet Worcester, said: "There are big shops which keep their doors shut - so why can't all the others? More than 70 per cent of shops are behaving in what looks like a profligate way. We found a temperature range between shops of 5C, so it seems clear improvements could be made. We don't want shops to be painfully cold - just comfortably warm."
The group also found that about a dozen High Street stores still had their window lights on at 11pm, with Superdrug and Jessops particularly brightly-lit.
Peter Robinson, also of One Planet Worcester, said: "What are they showing people? If it was for security, all the big shops would be doing it"
Some stores, including Clinton Cards and The Officers Club, have agreed to turn their temperatures down after being contacted by One Planet Worcester.
A spokesman for jeweller Ernest Jones said it was looking into ways of reducing its carbon footprint, but its shop does not actually have a front door to close.
Worcester's Costa Coffee manager Farad Ouchefoune said the temperature of his cafe would normally be kept below 23C, but was turned up if customers complained on a cold day.
H&M floor manager Jo Henderson said the clothing store "always tries to keep the temperature cool for our customers" and the heating was normally set at 19C.
Worcester Superdrug manager Roy Barnes said he had been in touch with his head office about switching off the lights at night after being contacted by One Planet Worcester, but Jessops store manager Kate Ford said interior lighting came on automatically at night and she did not know how it could be switched off. Marks & Spencer and Debenhams declined to comment.
