... Are knocking nearby trade - council".  Said a headline in the Saffron Walden Reporter this week.

Your council is concerned that buildings that continue to be left empty in the village are falling into disrepair and are damaging to the economic vitality of the village.    The Three Colts public house and ex B&R carpets shop on Cambridge road are both becoming eyesores and if left to decay further may well end up like that other well known 'dangerous structure', Mont House in High Lane.

There is not a lot the Parish or District Councils can do about empty commercial properties except appeal to the landlord, so the Parish council has written to the owner of these properties to ask about his intentions and offer its assistance.