MARY Portas, known as 'queen of the high street' was in Liskeard on Wednesday, meeting with local landlords over her proposals on free rents or short leases in a bid to get empty shops open for business again.

The free rent idea has not been welcomed by some shopkeepers in the town, as they say they are struggling to pay all their bills to keep open.

Colin Bond of Parade Discounts said the scheme was 'out of order'.

'I think there should be better incentives to encourage business people back into Liskeard,' he said.

'The first is to sort out the car parking charges then everything else might start falling into place. I pay £470 a year to park in the Cattle Market. Free parking for the traders and special rates for workers would be a start.'

Mayor Tony Powell – at a meeting with Mary last week – was able to secure the former Local Plus Store on The Parade, on a free rent basis, for the town council's forthcoming pannier market, which will run alongside the open air market.

'The town council has the free rent for the year through our talks with Mary, and we are now in negotiation with the Co-op, who are the landlords, regarding the lease,' he said.

'The free rent scheme is a "leg up" to get new businesses started,' he said. 'Anyone taking up the offer still has to pay their business rates and utility bills.

'As a council we believe this is a good idea as long as applicants are appropriately vetted through a selection procedure which will ensure viability in the long term for the proposed outlets.'

There are currently ten empty shops in the town's main streets – four of which have a 'free to rent' sign in the window with the contact: [email protected]">[email protected]