On a bright but chilly June morning in Clacton-on-Sea, seagulls are wheeling overhead and music is blasting from the largely empty pier arcades as Martin and Shirley Twaites walk their spaniel, Alfie, along the beachside esplanade.
They like Clacton, having moved here nine years ago, but “the town is dying”, says Shirley. With Marks & Spencer having recently closed, says Martin, a retired plumbing engineer, “as a man you can’t come into town and buy a pair of socks or a pair of underwear”. Sainsbury’s shut a while ago; Barclays has just gone, too.
