IT was once the heart of the town and the main shopping street for residents in Warrington.

But now empty shops and for sale signs litter Bridge Street - a road built more than 700 years ago as the principal connection between Warrington town centre and the Mersey.

The construction of the ring road and the relocation of the Market Hall in the 1970s have fuelled the decline in traffic and trade on Bridge Street, which has inevitably led to some businesses shutting up shop.

While others have claimed the council has failed to act quickly enough to turn the street's fortunes around.

News and Off Licence is the most recent casualty to fall victim to the struggles of surviving on the Bridge Street with the business currently listed for sale.

Owner Shahbaz Ahmed, who has owned the shop for six years, said: "Because the road has been made into a dead end, there is no traffic coming past.

"The council has started the work too late. They told me that by putting new tiles down it would bring more people down the street but I don't go to the Trafford Centre to see the tiles."

Charity shop Dapp UK is another in a long line of shops to relocate from Bridge Street, although new shops are set to open in the near future including a noodle bar and a Mediterranean fast food takeaway.

Plans to reverse the decline in this part of the town by the council are already moving forward with a £52m investment to revitalise the Bridge Street Quarter currently under way.

Managing director of family-run business Hancock and Wood Michael Hancock said: "I have a great deal of sympathy for small businesses in that position but I'm as hopeful as can be that the new development will make a considerable difference to this side of the town.

"Of course it would have been better if it had happened earlier."

Director of Security Centre Danny Hesketh added: "It's too late now. I have been here for 33 years and the changes I have seen are unbelievable. There's just no footfall."

Owner of Lancashire Tea Rooms Lynn Hitchen said: "In my first 18 months, 29 shops closed down around me. It is incredibly really that the council hasn't done more."

But a council spokesman said the new plans will transform the town centre.

“In August 2013 a preliminary phase of the project went ahead which was a £400,000 environmental improvement scheme designed to enhance the lower Bridge Street area.

"This has transformed the visual appearance of the street."

A planning application for the major elements of the project was submitted on September 5.