A TRADER forced to close has branded Herne Bay a "second-hand town".

Sandy McNulty, whose Just Poems and Silks, in Mortimer Street, shuts for the last time this week, accuses Canterbury council of killing the town.

Hers is the latest in a series of businesses to pull out of Herne Bay, including Dewhurst butchers, which closed last Friday.

Mrs McNulty said: "The council is doing nothing to help Herne Bay. Nice shops can't afford to stay and the town is filling with charity shops and second-hand shops. It's a second-hand town.

"I had to pay as much in rates as I did in rent and I have spent a fortune trying to make a go of it.

"I mean no disrespect to the people who run charity shops, but they don't attract people to the town and there is very little else that does."

Mrs McNulty opened the shop just outside the pedestrianised section of Mortimer Street a year ago and claimed other shops nearby were paying less in business rates.

She said: "I have spoken to the council but they say there is no way my rates will be reduced, so I can't stay."

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Seafront and Town Co-ordinator Darren Simpson said: "We are doing what we can with the resources we have at the moment. I am working with traders to do what we can to improve the town and we are working on ways to bring people into Herne Bay."

Mr Simpson said: "There is no simple answer, but I believe we can make a difference and should be upbeat instead of talking the town down."