Please note that this report stems from a meeting on Thursday, January 26.

TOWN councillors have criticised the lack of retailing variety in Ledbury centre, with a former mayor revealing that she always shops elsewhere.

The debate arose at a meeting in the Market House after the Herefordshire councillor for Ledbury, Liz Harvey suggested setting up ways to “strategise and manage the town centre,” to find a balance between tourism and local needs.

Coun Harvey said it was about “questioning the overall balance of properties, whether the supermarket planning applications are passed or not”.

Former town mayor Coun Jayne Roberts said: “We are seen purely as a tourist town. I do none of my shopping in Ledbury. There is nowhere in Ledbury I want to shop.

“It is an issue. Do we want it to stay as a tourist place, or become a place where we can buy children’s clothing for school?”

And former mayoress Coun Geraldine Holbourn said: “A lot of people do not shop here but go out of Ledbury. There is no gentlemen’s outfitters, for example.”

However Annette Crowe, of the Traders of Ledbury Association, defended what the town has to offer.

She said: “It is unfortunate that Coun Roberts doesn’t appear to know what is on her doorstep. If she did, she would find quality and affordability, more than in the large stores.”

Mrs Crowe, of the Past and Present jewellery shop in the Homend, also hit back at the claim that children’s clothes cannot be bought in town, giving Clubsport, DNA, and Aquarius as examples of children’s clothes retailers in Ledbury.

She added: “It’s the businesses in Ledbury that pay, through the rates, for a lot of the services that local people get.”

Please note that this report stems from a meeting on Thursday, January 26.