A COUNCILLOR is calling for a shopping centre to be demolished to encourage the regeneration of Spennymoor town centre.

Almost two dozen shops stand empty in the town centre, most of them in the Festival Walk precinct.

Plans to turn the boarded-up, shabby centre into a thriving shopping area are being addressed through a shop forum organised by Sedgefield Borough Council, where negotiations with owners of Festival Walk can take place.

But the regeneration dream is still very much in its infancy.

Chairman of Spennymoor Liberal Democrats, Councillor Ben Ord, says swifter action is needed.

His group has put forward proposals which include demolishing the shops and indoor market, building a covered shopping arcade and building a family restaurant to bring people into the centre in the evenings.

He said: "There will soon be 750 more houses built in Spennymoor and the developers themselves have said something needs doing about the shopping centre.

"Instead of doing things in bits and pieces, which seems to be the recommendation from the forum, I think something positive should be done.

"At the moment we just have very dilapidated, 1960s-style shops.

"We have regular complaints from people in Spennymoor saying something needs to be done."

Vice chairman of Spennymoor Liberal Democrats, Kevin Thompson, said the precinct owners were trying to encourage bigger stores to move in to Spennymoor, and the district council was considering employing a town centre manager, but proposals were at an early stage.

He said: "I think the district council should take an initiative to push plans forward and make sure they don't sit back and let the owners of the properties worry about it.

"The amount of money that has been spent on Shildon and Newton Aycliffe is far greater than anything that has been given to Spennymoor. We don't need a fantastic amount of money."