SOME of Bolton's town centre retailers are not doing enough in the pre-Christmas spending boom to fight off the threat of out of town shopping centres and the city centres, a report claims.

The nationwide survey looked at sample locations in thriving towns like Bolton, where it chose the prestige Market Place.

It revealed that the shopping centre has offered just 13 hours extra Christmas shopping time this year, compared to 20 hours at Manchester's new Arndale Centre.

The survey, by international property consultants Chesterton, has come at a time when Bolton councillors are facing criticisms about their decisions to allow its own slightly-out-of-town centre shopping complexes such as Middlebrook.

The findings show large regional variations between big centres such as Manchester's Arndale who are pulling out the stops to attract Christmas shoppers.

An independent study examining the impact of big shopping schemes on Bolton town centre is already before the town's planning chiefs.

Controversial schemes in Bolton include a planned supermarket on the former Burnden Park; a new Tesco store at the Middlebrook complex at Horwich, a shopping scheme in Trinity Street and Crook Street, and a shopping and restaurant development on the former Bolton Greyhound Stadium site.

The survey report says some of Bolton's high street traders are simply not doing enough to compete.

Susan Agnew, head of retail with Chesterton's Manchester office, said: "There is now an undoubted trend in this country for shops to open for longer to cater for shoppers' modern lifestyles.

"This year the largest shopping centres, in the UK in particular, seem to be taking a leaf out of the supermarkets' books by extending shopping hours dramatically. This, in our view spells trouble for the embattled high street."

Bolton town centre traders are now being urged to "organise themselves better" to compete with the big threats of out-of-town shopping centres such as the Trafford Centre and Middlebrook.

"The onus must therefore be on Town Centre Forums and other local trading bodies to co-ordinate additional hours as part of a determined campaign to wrest back the initiative from the huge shopping malls," Susan Agnew added.

Bolton town centre manager Maria Appleton said customers were now more demanding and wanted to shop at times to suit their lifestyles, and "not at times that necessarily suit the trader or shopkeeper".

"If high street stores are to compete they must change. However what retailers find hard to accept is that it takes time to gain their customers' loyalty and trading patterns only start to succeed after months of regular opening."

She said Bolton had an excellent Trades Committee which forms part of the Town Centre Partnership and has "a number of very successful campaigns under its belt".

Permanent Sunday trading has been established in Bolton to fight off the threat of the Trafford Centre at Dumplington.

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