THERE'S no reason on earth why Chesham should seem to be in decline.

The once quaint little market town is steeped in history and should attract hundreds if not thousands of tourists every year.

But what's shocking is that despite these great attributes it can hardly bring in enough shoppers for retailers to survive.

So what's going on?

Okay, so when you look at the High Street and notice the litter, it's not the greatest of starts to a shopping trip.

The town needs a clean up, there's no doubt about that.

The idea of putting four Victorian-style archway banners, and a canopy for outdoor performances and markets may improve the look of the town. But Chesham Town Council and its partners need to decide whether that alone will be enough to lift it out of depression.

Town councillors should hop on the bus and take a look at other small towns in the area and see how they survive.

In comparison to Amersham-on-the-hill, Chesham is beginning to look like its poor relation. It could be argued that the shops should cater for a wider range of people as it is facing competition from the bigger boys like Watford and London. But it is understandable that is not always easy to do.

The shop owners are the ones who will be feeling the effects if nothing is done about this.

The only course of action is to give more thought to the town, and decide what they can do to encourage other outlets to move to this affluent area.

It is logical to blame the pedestrianisation of the town. It is not so easily accessible and with huge superstores a few miles up the road providing free parking and wide varieties, it is no surprise that people are tempted to stay away from small towns.

No time should be wasted, Chesham needs to be cleaned up and made more attractive before it is too late.

School buses are a disgrace

EVERY parent who has a child using school transport should be feeling worried following a police investigation which found many vehicles were unroadworthy.

Parents put a lot of trust in the companies taking their children to school when they wave goodbye in the morning.

Nobody would expect anything less but the highest standards in the vehicles used. But a police spot check showed that's not always the case.

Some of the vehicles they looked at had so many defects they had to be taken off the road immediately.

That's not very reassuring news to anyone who has kids using school transport.

It's an absolute disgrace that some companies are not doing their job properly and are sending out vehicles which should not even be in use.

The police need to take tough action against those companies which are apparently not concerned with pupils' safety.

Serious offenders should be shut down. Confidence needs to be restored in the school transport system or nobody will want to use it.