“We're just happy to survive to be honest,” says Craig Diamond, closing down for the day after the lunchtime rush.
Craig works at ‘As U Like It’ sandwich bar on Poulton Road, a staple of Seacombe’s high street for the last 16 years. The area used to be thriving with every shop open, according to Craig’s colleague, but today it reflects more of a “ghost town”.
The amount of shuttered shops where Borough Road and Poulton Road meet is just one signifier that this is one of the most deprived areas in Wirral and the wider city region. In recent years money has gone into neighbouring New Brighton and Birkenhead, but there is a feeling from some locals that Seacombe has been squeezed out by nearby regeneration efforts.
