TWO leading retailers are looking to buy up stores in Chatham town centre and give a big boost to the regeneration of the high street.

The stores which are the targets of the property buy-outs are the closed Marks & Spencer and the 30,000-sq ft Co-op, which is due to close by next February.

Neither retailer has been named as talks reach an advanced stage.

There was considerable dismay when, just as Medway Council was announcing its plans for the revival of the town centre, one store closed and the other announced its impending closure.

The property boss responsible for the £165m showpiece regeneration of Chatham’s Pentagon Shopping Centre is watching developments with interest.

Ian Solley, of Dunedin Property, said: “I am far happier that these two new retailers are coming in. It will be very good for the town.”

He praised several retailers for their recent refurbishments including Primark, Debenhams, Boots and Waterstone’s.

“Things are happening in Chatham and it is wrong to look on the M&S closure as a bad thing,” he stressed.

Mr Solley used to visit Chatham regularly in his teens, and still lives in the county.

“I was there last week and the place was packed with people,” he said. “The issue with Chatham is that we get a lot of lower socio-economic groups regularly shopping there. We have to encourage more up-market shopping,” he said.

The strategic planning portfolio holder, Jane Chitty, told a conference in Medway that there is a lot of interest in Chatham.

“I wish I could say who is showing an interest – but it would not be right at this time,” she said.