Why no late night Christmas shopping in Paignton?

Like most people in Paignton I get extremely busy around Christmas and when I'm struggling to find the time to buy gifts for the family, great British inventions like late night shopping are a godsend.

Once again though I feel I'm going to have to get on my soapbox, as it appears that Paignton is the poorer cousin when compared to the other members of the English Riviera family.

Both Torquay and Brixham have recently had Christmas lights switch-on events while in Paignton they just appear one day with no fuss or celebration.

Was particularly incensed to read that the organisers of the Brixham event apparently put on the biggest firework display the town had ever seen. Paignton couldn't even manage any on November 5 this year!

So is there any late night shopping in our town to make up for all these recent non-events? Yes you've guessed it the answer is no.

The shops of Torquay will be open every Thursday night till 9pm up to Christmas so why can't we have the same in Paignton?

There are plenty of good independent shops to pick up Christmas gifts in town, so why don’t the council and local traders get their heads together and offer us what could be a magical late night shopping experience?

I’m pretty sure that there was late night shopping on Friday nights in Paignton last Christmas in a bid to boost the local economy and I imagine the same kind of premise would be welcomed this year by shoppers and traders alike.

We’ve already seen what the current financial climate has done to the once thriving Crossways shopping centre and I’m completely fed up with the attitude towards Paignton in general by the powers that be.

Come on council and your no doubt highly paid economic development company (TDA), it’s time to pull your finger out and put Paignton on an equal platform with the rest of the Bay.

A little Christmas cheer can go a long way!