This much-loved high street town has been called a ‘ghost town’ despite once being home to a bustling community of shoppers.
Leamington Spa is known for its beautiful architecture, clean streets and stunning natural beauty but locals see it differently.
Elaine Fitzpatrick, who works on a flower stall in the area, said there are not many people coming to the area anymore due to so much of the high street being empty, with boarded up shops.
So much so she told Express.co.uk the Warwickshire town is “dying”.
Pointing at an empty storefront opposite the flower stall, she said: “That one’s been closed for about three years now – the town is dying.
“Our takings have been cut by half this last year, and I think it’s because all the shops are closing down. There’s nothing to entice everybody into Leamington anymore.
“We get coaches of people coming, and they come up to me every day and ask me what there is to do here and why they’ve been brought here.”
The flower stall is owned by Elaine’s sister, Linda Fitzpatrick, and it has been running for 30 years. The stall worker said Leamington has definitely seen better and busier times.
Elaine added: “With the tourists that come, they wander around here asking where all the shops are and we just tell them to go down to the park because that’s all there is here.”
Kester Jones, who works on the potato stall next to Elaine, also agrees that the town is dying. He said: “It is a beautiful place, but it has been in a bit of a decline.”
Mr Jones lives in Coventry and travels to Leamington Spa for work but said he would not be interested in moving to the area.
He continued: “There are new places opening up but they just need to improve the shopping centre again.
“We do get a lot of tourists, we do get a lot of people taking photos of the flower stand and the stand here and the buildings and everything, but there isn’t really much for them to see or do.”
With lots of independent and small businesses in the area, it is certainly a worrying time for those who rely on tourism in the town to keep their businesses busy with customers.
