A SURVEY suggests Northwich is losing its own identity as chain stores turn the town centre into another clone town - but in contrast, Middlewich is 'unique'.

A 'clone town' is defined as one that has 'had the individuality of its high street shops replaced by a monochrome strip of global and national chains.'

Commissioned by the New Economics Foundation (nef), Clone Town Britain found 42% of towns surveyed are clones, a further 26% are border towns and 33% are home towns (places that retain their individual character).

Exeter tops the clone town table with only one independent high street shop among the chain stores; Northwich comes 22nd. Middlewich was classed as a 'home town'.

Andrew Simms, nef policy director, said: 'Clone stores have a triple whammy on communities: They bleed the local economy of money, destroy the social glue provided by real local shops that holds communities together, and they steal the identity of our towns and cities. Then we are left with soulless clones towns.'

Vale Royal Borough Council's planning control manager Colin Williams disagrees with the basic assumption that chain stores, or multiples as he calls them, are bad for the town.

'People shouldn't read that much into the term 'clone',' he said. 'What it really means is Northwich has a fairly high representation of multiples when you rank them against other towns - it just aligns itself to other successful market towns.

'Major cities like Liverpool and Manchester have very high numbers of multiples, which bolster the town centre and once you have got them in it is a sign to other businesses it is a healthy place to be.

'In Winsford we'd love there to be more multiples to tell people it is an up-and-coming town. We are looking to stem the out-migration of shoppers to places like Warrington and Macclesfield, which is happening, and bring them back to Northwich; we want to do that by increasing the range of multiples per se.

'And when all these key players come, we will start getting small independent businesses wanting to come as well, on the back of them.'

Mr Williams said a number of high street names have expressed an interest in trading in Northwich, including Homebase, Debenhams and River Island, as part of the council's Northwich Vision - the £200m plans to change the face of the town.

But Mr Williams adds this does not mean the death of its identity and heritage. 'The Vision has made clear to developers and contractors that they must ensure the identity of Northwich remains but the range of shops, facilities and services broaden out to bring them up to modern standards that can compete with the likes of Crewe and Macclesfield.'

In this respect, Middlewich mayor Chalky White, wishes his town had the body of chain stores that constitute a clone town. He said: 'One of the downsides of not being a clone town is Middlewich has a lack of certain amenities. For example we don't have masses of chain stores, a swimming pool, bypass or railway station.'

Otherwise, Cllr White is delighted that Middlewich hasn't been viewed as bland: 'I'm not surprised at all that Middlewich has not been classed as a clone town. There are two particular features of the town we've been working on for the six years that I've been part of the council. One is the canal network. Though other towns have canals, very, very few have two major canals meeting in the middle of town, joined by a special canal less than 60 yards long.

'Also there is the heritage of Middlewich; the town has been working to preserve its past, and not only preserve, but enhance. There have been two successful Roman festivals, the Folk and Boat Festival and later this year our Norman Heritage Festival.'

Richard Kelsall, chairman of the Northwich and District Heritage Society, says Northwich's heritage precludes the 'clone' label.

He said: 'It's not fair to call Northwich a clone town and I think it's unfortunate it's been included in that list. Northwich still retains some character and let's hope it will always remain as unique as it can be.'