Last Thursday I made the usual journey along Wycombe High Street on my regular lunchtime walk around the town centre.

My attention was caught by a yellow notice on the window of the empty shop that used to sell electrical goods next to the burger bar.

Being nosey I made my way over to read the notice. It turned out to be a planning permission application and it gave details of the new business planning to take over the empty shop.

Guess what type of shop is opening? Well, it's yet another charity shop. My heart sank.

Wycombe High Street is full of charity shops, pound shops and fast food outlets. What happened to the high class retailers? Are the people in Wycombe so poor they can only afford items costing a pound?

How did the High Street get in this state? After all I thought the town planning regulations were designed to stop this sort of thing happening.

Look at Desborough Road. Once a respectable shopping area where you could get anything it has now become an area dominated with fast food shops and takeaways.

Most of the fast food shops had to apply for planning permission so why was it granted? Can't the town planners say no once in a while?

I wonder if there is any policy for the development of the town centre in a balanced and economically sustainable way.

It doesn't have to be like this. Look at Marlow High Street for example. On my visit last year I can't remember seeing a single charity shop let alone a pound shop. If the charity shops were there they blended in with the other shops.

In my humble opinion shopping in Marlow was far nicer than Wycombe by miles. Aylesbury and Beaconsfield are the same so why does Wycombe have to be ruined?

I think there is still time to save the High Street but Wycombe will have to pull its socks up and the powers that be need to start controlling more closely the types of business that can set up shop there.

Until something is done there seems very little point visiting our High Street if you want to buy anything new costing over £1.

What do you think?