THE Roman Middlewich Project could save shops from becoming extinct, says a former town mayor.

Middlewich is the fastest growing town in the county but its retail facilities are lagging far behind, according to a recent shopping survey.

The study, commissioned by Cheshire County Council, compared 16 towns and concluded Middlewich had the lowest catchment of shoppers in the county.

It also concluded Mid Cheshire towns must find more retail space and warehouses if they are to survive out-of-town competition from shopping malls such as Cheshire Oaks and the Trafford Centre.

But county and borough councillor Dave Sutton says rather than competing, Middlewich should differentiate itself through specialist shops. And he believes the success of the Roman Middlewich Festival heralds a positive future for the town centre.

Cllr Sutton said: "The Roman project is really the catalyst for Middlewich. It will bring in tourists and may change the way people look at the town centre.

"In Middlewich we are never going to attract the likes of the big stores ­most people travel to places like Chester and the Trafford Centre for this.

"What we¹ve got to try and do is to encourage the specialist shops. In the town centre the gift shops do really well, and so it is this type of custom we need to attract."

He said: "We are quite a big commuter town and so the weekend is really the time when the shops make their money. We need to look into developing retail units with office space so there are more people working in the town centre during the week.

"We should also look to attract businesses by introducing things like reduced business rates for the first year. The county, borough and town should come together and look at what we can do for Middlewich - using the Roman Middlewich Project as a starting point.

"We are not a lost cause because the Roman project means we can turn a lot of it round."