MADAM, With reference to the letter from Messrs John and Stuart Hinton (December 20) I wonder what century they live in.

Most of the town centre of Leominster was built in the 18th and early 19th centuries and was designed to reflect the living of those times, i.e. most people lived within short walking distance of the town centre, the population was a mere fraction of that today and the very small shops established then reflected the needs of those days.

Today, in the 21st century, things have changed dramatically - the population around Leominster has exploded, people have more money to spend and don't have time in our busy world to go shopping for food and other essential items every day as they did in older times.

The coming of larger general stores, such as Safeway, reflects the changes in the modern world to accommodate the needs of today's people.

Without these larger stores can you imagine the chaos and frustration of this larger population trying to undertake their weekly shopping in the very congested tiny streets and roads making up the centre of Leominster!

We have to move on to modern times and having larger, general stores with decent car parking near to the larger residential developments allows these residents to shop for their weekly groceries etc., without causing pollution and congestion in the centre of Leominster. It is certainly more environmentally friendly.

The opportunity is there for the small shops in the centre of Leominster to cater for the tourist trade, niche specialities and those activities suited to very small shop areas.

We have to more on; the days of the candlestick maker's shop have gone!

CLIFF JONES,

Frome Park,

Bartestree.