There was indeed activity in the former Kinder Cafe, as reported in my last post, and it's going to be a.................... charity shop. My heart sank when I saw that Central Road was going to get yet another. God bless the people from Fara who get the chance to compete with the other charity shops for our consumer pennies but I'd rather see some decent shops on Central Road. With the Thomson travel agents closing last week and the unsurprising, deserved but swift demise of the Worcester Supermarket this week there's not much cause for celebration on the retail front.

I've heard it said that the arrival of Pizza Express, Marks & Spencers (now gone) and the more recent Sainsburys have 'inspired' the landlords to raise their rents in expectation of impending retail payday. If true the net effect has been to squeeze the small businesses which make Worcester Park the quirky little place it is, causing some to shut up shop or leave. Rumoured interest by other companies such as McDonalds and the proposed expansion of the Hamptons won't dampen their enthusiasm for rent rises either. Anybody want to say whether that's true or if I'm barking up the wrong tree?