{"id":277889,"date":"2025-07-20T17:24:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T17:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/277889\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T17:24:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T17:24:23","slug":"the-ghost-town-centre-with-more-abandoned-shops-than-nearly-every-city-in-the-uk-as-locals-blame-drug-addicts-high-rents-and-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/277889\/","title":{"rendered":"The ghost town centre with more abandoned shops than nearly every city in the UK as locals blame drug addicts, high rents… and EACH OTHER"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bradford may have been crowned City of Culture but its shopping streets have been devastated by a slump which has led to stores being boarded up across the town.<\/p>\n

The West Yorkshire district has more empty shops than nearly every other city in the UK and double those in\u00a0London<\/a> and Cambridge<\/a>, according to a new think tank study.<\/p>\n

Bradford Council is now gambling the town’s retail future on a multi million pound strategy to reverse the decline.<\/p>\n

The idea is to replace the city’s Oestler and Kirkgate Markets with the new Darley Street market which opened this week creating 1,000 new homes in the process.<\/p>\n

The two markets closed last month as part of a scheme which will also see the demotion of the Oestler Centre and eventually the Kirkgate Shopping Centre.<\/p>\n

With Darley Street Market welcoming its first customers this week Mail Online visited the town to see if optimism is in the air.<\/p>\n

We found a city centre that is a real Curate’s Egg of a retail experience. Some shopping streets are swarming with shoppers and the atmosphere seems vibrant.<\/p>\n

But around every corner is a boarded up shop. The Oeastler Centre stands derelict amid a maze of deserted streets.<\/p>\n

\"Two <\/p>\n

Two markets closed last month as part of a scheme which will also see the demotion of the Oestler Centre (pictured) and eventually the Kirkgate Shopping Centre<\/p>\n

\"Some <\/p>\n

Some shopping streets are swarming with shoppers and the atmosphere seems vibrant. However, around every corner is a boarded up shop.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A number of To Let signs can be spotted throughout the city centre – the signs of a slump that has led to vacant stores<\/p>\n

Across town, traders at the Kirkgate Centre reckon it will not be long before it also becomes a concrete shell to be flattened by the bulldozers.<\/p>\n

Many areas are now wall to wall betting shops, vape stores, and nail bars, squeezing out local cafes, corner shops and even designer jewellery stores.<\/p>\n

Several shops are reduced to selling tat for pittance to survive including bunches of fake flowers for \u00a31.<\/p>\n

Last year, the city centre suffered another blow when Marks and Spencer closed its branch in the Broadway shopping centre.<\/p>\n

Debenhams also closed its store in the Broadway in 2021 when the stores closed nationwide and the brand was snapped up by Boohoo for online sales.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, High Street names have continued to disappear from the city, possibly for good.<\/p>\n

One the latest casualties of the slump has been Dunkin’ Donuts, near the entrance to the Broadway.<\/p>\n

It closed without warning this week, leaving customers stunned including Sophie Webster, 29.<\/p>\n

\"One <\/p>\n

One the latest casualties of the slump has been Dunkin’ Donuts, near the entrance to the Broadway. A sign on the door reads: ‘This store is now closed’<\/p>\n

\"Locals <\/p>\n

Locals claim most shops in the Broadway will ‘only be open for a few months or a year’ and the close and become something else<\/p>\n

\"Sophie <\/p>\n

Sophie Webster (pictured) said: ‘My favourite coffee shop Dunkin’ Donuts closed on Tuesday. There was no warning. it just shut so I don’t know what that was about’<\/p>\n

She said: ‘There are so many shops closing. I am born and bred here but I normally shop in Keighley town centre. I am only here now because I am at work.<\/p>\n

‘My favourite coffee shop Dunkin’ Donuts closed on Tuesday. There was no warning. it just shut so I don’t know what that was about.<\/p>\n

‘Most shops in Broadway will only be open for a few months or a year and then close and become something else.<\/p>\n

‘Taco Bell has shut as well and I have no idea why. They didn’t put anything where Burger king used to be and all the food places are going.<\/p>\n

‘Some places are not getting enough customers to pay the rent. Dunkin’ Donuts was never that busy. But Taco Bell was, I don’t know what happened there. But it seems something will open and then close again so its all a bit rubbish.’<\/p>\n

John Henry Brown, 69, said: ‘I was born in Bradford in 1956 and I have not been out of Bradford in the 69 years since.<\/p>\n

‘The state of the place now is atrocious. They have blocked so many roads off it has stopped a lot of disabled people getting into town on the bus.<\/p>\n

‘Yet they are calling it the City of Culture. Where is the culture? It is just crap.<\/p>\n

\"More <\/p>\n

More stores are pictured with To Let signs – in the midst of large posters that boast of Bradford’s status as City of Culture<\/p>\n

\"Locals <\/p>\n

Locals claim many residents will go to Leeds for their shopping rather than doing it in Bradford city centre<\/p>\n

\"John <\/p>\n

John Henry Brown (pictured, 69, said: ‘The state of the place now is atrocious. They have blocked so many roads off it has stopped a lot of disabled people getting into town on the bus’<\/p>\n

‘The new market is very expensive. If you want a chocolate eclair it is going to cost you a fiver.<\/p>\n

‘They are supposed to be pulling a lot of the shops down to turn into houses but they already have so many empty properties they could turn into flats.<\/p>\n

‘Demolishing the empty shopping centres is going to cost millions and it is just a waste of money.’<\/p>\n

Josephine Eastwood said: ‘You will be surprised how many people who live in Bradford will say to you “Oh, we don’t go to Bradford to shop”.<\/p>\n

‘We go to Leeds for our shopping and a lot of people go to Harrogate as well, like we do. It is not just the shortage of shops it is the smell of the drugs people are smoking.<\/p>\n

‘That’s put me off as well. Then, you can guarantee someone will stop you and ask you if you have any money.<\/p>\n

‘It is not just a one off, and that’s what puts people off coming here as well.<\/p>\n

‘Me and my husband shop in Harrogate all the time and never once have we had the problems we have here in Bradford.’<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A former Gold Connection Rolex dealers is now a pop-up shop selling cushions for \u00a33 and head scarves for \u00a31<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The store is on the historic site of the A Fattorini The Jewellers, which made the FA Cup Trophy won by the Bantams but closed for good in 2021 after 190 years in Yorkshire<\/p>\n

A former Gold Connection Rolex dealers is now a pop-up shop selling cushions for \u00a33 and head scarves for \u00a31.<\/p>\n

The store is on the historic site of the A Fattorini The Jewellers, which made the FA Cup Trophy won by the Bantams but closed for good in 2021 after 190 years in Yorkshire.<\/p>\n

A man browsing the \u00a33 cushions, who refused to be named, said: ‘This used to be the best jeweller’s shop in Bradford. Now it has all gone downhill.<\/p>\n

‘I blame people with cars travelling to out of town shopping centres That’s why all the corner shops have closed down.’<\/p>\n

Many shoppers were in town to check out the city’s new Darley Street market which opened this week.<\/p>\n

The much trumpeted state-of-the-art complex is being hailed by council bosses as a major boost to the flagging retail sector.<\/p>\n

Catherine Bagnall, 76, added: ‘The shops around here are rubbish. Marks and Spencers closed down because of all the shoplifters.<\/p>\n

‘We are lost without Marks and Spencers. That was the only thing worth coming into town for. We are only here today to see what the new market is like.<\/p>\n

\"One <\/p>\n

One local said: ‘The shops around here are rubbish. Marks and Spencers closed down because of all the shoplifters’<\/p>\n

\"Someone <\/p>\n

Someone else reminisced: ‘When I was a younger I used to love going up and down the high streets’<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A phone shop pictured with its shutters down is another tell-tale sign the number of shops closed in the city centre is one of the highest in the country<\/p>\n

‘Bradford is not what it used to be. There are too many people high on spice. Your heart is in your mouth every time you hear someone behind you.’<\/p>\n

Among the first visitors to the new market were Jordan Fry, 29, and Rowan Tordoff, 27, and neither was impressed.<\/p>\n

Jordan said: ‘The new market is not too bad. But there are not a lot of shops in there either. It is the first time I have been in the city centre in ages.<\/p>\n

‘We have only come to see the new market. When I was a younger I used to love going up and down the high streets.<\/p>\n

‘The new market is nice. But I don’t know if there are more shops that are going to open up. Inside, there are three or four butchers, a fruit place and the rest is fabrics.<\/p>\n

‘We walked in five minutes ago, had a quick look, and came straight back out again.’<\/p>\n

Nodding in agreement, Rowan added: ‘The new market looks a lot better than the rest of Bradford does.<\/p>\n

‘But I would rather go shopping in Leeds because there is more there. The shops in Bradford are all the same shops.<\/p>\n

\"After <\/p>\n

After decades of trading the Oastler Centre closed on June 28 along with the Kirkgate Market. Both are facing demolition to make way for the Darley Street market (pictured)<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A number of betting shops can be seen in a row together in Bradford city centre includign a William Hill, Admiral, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes<\/p>\n

‘I only came in for a spot of breakfast and to see the new market but it has been a bit of waste of time.<\/p>\n

‘The Kirkgate Centre is still open there is just not a lot in there now. Most of them have moved to Broadway or into the new market.’<\/p>\n

Abdul Pandor, 70, has been selling watches in the Kirkgate Centre for 15 years. He said: ‘We had a really good business.<\/p>\n

‘Then over time things changed. Covid did not help but shopping has changed over time.<\/p>\n

‘They are selling stuff online cheaper than I can buy wholesale and I cannot beat that and survive when I have to pay rent and wages.<\/p>\n

‘We are keeping going for as long as I can then I will head away into the sunset.<\/p>\n

‘Fifteen years ago we were always busy but we are so quiet now.<\/p>\n

‘Young kids nowadays don’t want watches anymore so we repair more than we sell.’<\/p>\n

\"Abdul <\/p>\n

Abdul Pandor (pictured), 70, has been selling watches in the Kirkgate Centre for 15 years. He said: ‘We had a really good business. Then over time things changed’<\/p>\n

\"Cheap <\/p>\n

Cheap headscarves are on sale for \u00a31 in the City Centre as well as packs of cushions in a variety of colours<\/p>\n

\"Mr <\/p>\n

Mr Pandor said: ‘They are selling stuff online cheaper than I can buy wholesale and I cannot beat that and survive when I have to pay rent and wages’<\/p>\n

\"'Any <\/p>\n

‘Any bunch of flowers for \u00a31’ – another indication of the town’s attraction to cheap consumer items<\/p>\n

\"One <\/p>\n

One resident concluded: ‘The whole place has gone to cock. I was born and bred around here and it has all gone downhill’<\/p>\n

Alec Janow, 63, was one of the only people window shopping in the nearly deserted streets leading to the city’s former Oastler Centre.<\/p>\n

After decades of trading it closed on June 28 along with the Kirkgate Market. Both are facing demolition to make way for the Darley Street market.<\/p>\n

Mr Janow said: ‘The whole place has gone to cock. I was born and bred around here and it has all gone downhill.<\/p>\n

‘The shops have been driven out by high rents and all the shoplifters. The new market is all very well but I think the place is too far gone.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bradford may have been crowned City of Culture but its shopping streets have been devastated by a slump…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[51,92,12,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-277889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114886729837560447","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}