The recession may be forcing shop shutters down across the county but according to a national survey Ashford is bucking the trend.

The survey, conducted by regional research group the Local Data Company (LDC), shows Ashford has fewer empty town centre businesses than anywhere in the South East.

With only 3.7 per cent of shops vacant the town is performing significantly better than the national average of 12 per cent - an increase of 4 per cent from last year.

The results were a sharp contrast to those for Margate. The Thanet town took the dubious honour of having the most ‘To Let’ signs in England and Wales with one in four premises now closed.

The LDC, which maintains a national database of information on more than 90 per cent of the country’s business premises, says improving sales figures may be responsible for good performance.

"In the middle of a deep recession you could be forgiven for scrabbling around to find anything but bad news in the retail sector, but strong June retail sales figures gave a boost to those who see recovery around the next corner."

But the group also warned of the negative effect closed shops can have on a town centre.

"Just as thriving town centres demonstrate vitality, empty shops lay bare weakness and failure, empty shops have a corrosive effect upon the confidence of any area - and their numbers are growing.

"The damage is spread across the country and affects all levels of the retail hierarchy from the largest regional centre to the smallest high street."

Although the news is a boost for traders in Ashford not all shops have been able to weather the storm of the recession as well.

Sharon Music, which has had a presence in the town for ten years, closed last month with managers blaming the tough economic times as a contributory factor.

Partner Alan Gell said: "This is partly due to the recession but also because more and more people are shopping on the internet.

"Also it seems that Ashford town centre has moved away, further south such as in development like County Square."

Ashford Borough Council said the statistics had been achieved through hard work.

Council leader and chairman of Ashford’s Future partnership board, Cllr Paul Clokie (Con) said: "One cannot underestimate the impact that the sight of rows of empty shops can have of a town’s image, so I am delighted that Ashford is leading the way in keeping town centre retail alive.

"These sorts of figures are not achieved by luck or by chance. It is down to a great deal of hard work by the council, our partners at Ashford’s Future and the town centre partnership, and a debt of thanks is owed to the people who are striving to keep our town alive."

WORST PERFORMING TOWNS IN THE SOUTH EAST

1. Margate - 25 per cent vacant

2. Dover - 16.3 per cent vacant

3. Gravesend - 14.3 per cent vacant

4. Folkestone - 14.1 per cent vacant

5. Ramsgate - 12.2 per cent vacant

BEST PERFORMING TOWNS IN THE SOUTH EAST

1. Ashford - 3.7 per cent vacancy

2. Eastbourne - 5 per cent vacancy

3. Horsham - 5.1 per cent vacancy

4. Hastings - 5.4 per cent vacancy

5. Brighton and Hove - 7.4 per cent vacancy