Residents of a once thriving high street say their home has been turned into a 'dying ghost town' - which now has more than FORTY empty shopping units.

Walsall, once the centre of the UK's

leather and saddle trade, was also a bustling retail centre which boasted scores of shopping chains and independent stores.

But bleak photos show how the market town has become "desolate" in recent years, full of boarded-up and derelict stores covered in graffiti and smashed in windows."

Walsall was recently named the second lowest rated area in England to start a business and previously had one of the worst empty shop rates in Britain.

New figures also revealed the

West Midlands town was economically below average on nearly every front and nearly one in four residents are economically inactive.

Locals living in what is one of the country's most deprived towns say they fear for the future of the "forgotten" area where there's "no longer any sense of community"."



And frustrated shop owners say they're finding it hard to make ends meet and feel not enough is being done to revive the run-down post-industrial town

There are around 150 shops across Walsall's four main shopping streets meaning approximately 1 in 4 are currently estimated to be lying empty. 

Local businessman Harcharan Pala, who runs music store Revolution Records, said: "I've been here eight or nine years and we've seen the big shops like Debenhams and M&S disappear."

"The town is just desolate now, hardly anyone comes here. It used to be a destination town, people went out of there way to come here, but that just doesn't happen anymore. "

"Without those big anchor shops drawing people in, there's no reason for people to come shopping here anymore. They go cities like Birmingham or Wolverhampton."

"Or even out of town retail parks in Cannock or Merry Hill in Dudley, we've just been left behind here. The amount of empty shops is sad to see."

"But there's no incentive for small business owners as the rents and rates are too high. They need to come down to draw people back otherwise it will remain empty."

"I'm attached to an indoor market and the number of traders had dropped 18 to seven. I'm thinking about moving online as it's just very difficult to compete."

"People's shopping habits have massively changed. Walsall has turned into a town of pound shops and charity shops."

Damian Chapman, 30, is one of those bucking the trend and is opening a trading card game store called The Card Loft on July 26.

He added: "I'd seen all the negativity around the town centre but it didn't put me off because this is where I grew up and came as a kid."

"There was a trading card game shop which closed down where I used to go after school and I think there is certainly still a demand for it. "

"We've got an upstairs we're hoping to turn into a community space so the the younger generation have something to do in the six weeks holidays."

"I think when you have something niche and unique too, people will travel to seek it out. "

"You don't want to be dealing with collectibles on eBay and online, you want to be able to feel it, so that was the thinking about opening up the shop."

"There's still enough footfall with the college in the town too, it is actually surprisingly busy not just on weekends - it just needs more open shops for people to enjoy."

But window cleaner Paul Booth, 64, who has been washing the town centre offices, shops, banks and pubs for 44 years, says the town is 'dead'.

He used to work six days a week but can now complete his rounds in just a day.

Paul, of Cheslyn Hay, Staffs., said: "There used to be a team of five of us who cleaned pretty much every business going in Walsall."

"We did all the shops, offices, pubs and banks and it would take us all week. Now I can do it all on a Tuesday."

"I don't even recognise the place anymore. It's just empty and dying a death. "

"We first noticed it during the recession around 2008 and the town has just never recovered."

"I used to know all the street cleaners, bin men, bus drivers, you couldn't go five steps without being stopped. "

"Now there's no sense of community at all. Just cheap and nasty shops selling tacky plastic toys and mobile phone covers."

"It's sad to see what Walsall has become."

Jonathan Lovell, 42, added: "Walsall had one of the best night life scenes going in the Midlands on top of a thriving market and good shopping, now it's just depressingly dead. "

"We grew up in the Wharf Bar, the atmosphere in the town was brilliant. But now I don't feel safe to go out and I come out of my flat most mornings to find someone has unrinated on my doorstep most days, it's pretty grim."

Craig Marlow, the managing director of arcade The Retro Realm, told the BBC: "It's a destinational thing - Walsall used to have a really good market, it was known all over the country, it was so strong."

"It makes me feel disheartened. Walsall is a really good community, but it's slowly dying because the destination is gone."

"Everyone goes to Merry Hill or to Telford, everywhere except Walsall."

Tom Ironside, director of business and regulation at the British Retail Consortium, said: "Vacant properties have become an all too familiar sight across the country in recent years. "

"Local initiatives to rejuvenate town centres and high streets are welcome however it is essential that wider steps are taken to support their transformation. "

"The current, outdated business rates system has deterred local investment and contributed to widespread store closures. "

"It is essential that the Government's reforms to rates leave no shop paying more. "

"This would allow retailers to invest more in the communities they serve and help breathe life back into our high streets."

Walsall Council said the town is undergoing a £1.5bn regeneration programme, which will create opportunities for businesses.

Councillor Adrian Andrew, deputy leader of Walsall Council, said: "We know the economy is struggling. "

"People's shopping habits have changed, and our town centres need to diversify."

"The council is working to create an environment that attracts people into the town centre so that local people will shop local and support local businesses."