NORTHUMBERLAND is in the top 20 places in the country most at risk of ‘hollowed-out high streets’, according to new analysis by Labour.

The party’s research is based on those parts of the country which have the highest proportion of hospitality, tourism, retail and leisure businesses which are currently closed.

Across England, 11.7 per cent of all businesses fall into these categories, but in Northumberland, this figure stands at 14 per cent.

Coun. Susan Dungworth, the leader of the Labour opposition on Northumberland County Council, said: “Hospitality, tourism, retail and leisure businesses have been some of the hardest hit during the pandemic and are facing a cash crisis. Closed from trading yet facing shrinking government support, with cash grants worth just a fraction of the amount made available during the first lockdown, they are experiencing dwindling cash reserves, burdened with debt, and fast approaching a dead end in multiple government support schemes.”

The county council last week published its Northumberland Covid-19 route map 2021, which includes a five-point plan for economic recovery. One of these pillars is ‘investing in our places, culture and tourism’, which covers the regeneration of town centres.

Conservative council leader Glen Sanderson said: “We know that rural and coastal areas have been hit harder by the Covid-19 pandemic due to reliance on tourism, as have more deprived communities, but there are significant opportunities here to drive growth in areas of strategic importance to the UK and support recovery and growth – particularly in clean and green energy, manufacturing and life sciences, building on our cultural and environmental strengths, renewal of our towns and investment in our places. It’s going to be challenging, but what won’t change is our commitment to ensuring a long-lasting recovery from Covid-19 from which all our communities benefit.”