Councillor brands town a 'disgrace'

PART of Linthorpe Road has been branded a “disgrace” by a Middlesbrough councillor.

- By DANIEL HODGSON

The critique came at the full meeting of the council last week, ahead of the closure of Next, which shut its doors for the final time on Saturday.

Middlesbrough Independent Councillors Association (MICA) group leader Councillor Mick Saunders highlighted the wider decline of the section of Linthorpe Road near the railway station.

Executive member for development, Labour Councillor Theo Furness, said that the trend away from high street shopping is “sad” and that Middlesbrough wasn’t alone.

He also laid out what the council is doing to attract people to the town centre.

Cllr Saunders is not the first politician in the region to react to the closure of Next and the wider state of Linthorpe Road, with Middlesbrough Labour Mayor Chris Cooke describing the closure of the clothing and homeware store as “regrettable”, while Tees Valley Conservative Mayor Ben Houchen said the town centre is in a “dire state”.