ANGER over the increasing number of empty and badly-maintained shops blighting Dartford town centre surfaced this week. The town's MP Dr Howard Stoate has written to the Government seeking a new local council power to force private landlords and tenants to clean up their act.

He felt Dartford deserved better and claimed the sorry state of some outlets was scaring off shoppers. I counted nearly 25 vacant shops in the town - some plastered with posters and others openly displaying their crumbling interiors.

"There are a couple of shops which have been empty for some months now and quite frankly they are now in a disgusting state," said Dr Stoate. "Dartford is a prosperous town with a bright future but you'd hardly think that to look at the state of some of the shops in our town centre."

But Dartford Council's deputy shadow leader, Jeremy Kite, claimed Dr Stoate's call was merely plastering over a serious problem in the town. Cllr Kite believed a continued council focus on safety, cleanliness and maintenance was the key to boosting town centre business.

Deborah Carey, manager of the Orchards Shopping Centre, is busy marketing three empty units in the High Street complex and blamed Bluewater competition for the vacancies. Dartford Council cabinet member, Cllr Andy Sawford, said: "Bluewater was always going to be a challenge but I feel we have stood up to it in resilient way."