DESPITE being late to reply I must congratulate Peter Baillie on his excellent letter regarding the shops in Bitterne Park Triangle.

I know the area quite well from my work in sales, and this used to be a good vibrant shopping area and today it is a shadow of its former state, despite some good shops really working hard.

Part of the reason I would say is parking and permitting a Tesco with parking just up the road.

It is often only when people want something ‘special’ that they find a local store answering their need – no hardware store for example can survive on the sale of tap washers.

The loss of the post office and chemist was a great loss too, but oversize superstores that can sell anything are very much to blame. In my opinion, for what it is worth, this is very sad but as they say – ‘what goes round comes round’. This could and would happen in Romsey.

J DOE, Romsey.