Boarded-up stores blight our high street – a fact that was forcefully brought home to many towns with the demise of Woolworths.

Ilkeston was no exception and the sad state of Bath Street is testiment to how bad the situation has become here.

Efforts are being made to disguise the decline with the fantastic old photographs mounted on the disused stores but we hope that more can be done in the coming months.

Today, the Advertiser is launching a new campaign to get behind our shopkeepers and the groups striving to keep our town alive.

We will be including a variety of special features in the paper from
now until Christmas – all with the aim of protecting our town.
We will be staging a competition in association with the Derbyshire Building Society to find our favourite shop assistant.

There will be a chance for traders to enter themselves for special awards; we will be backing the charter fair in the autumn and we will also be putting our weight behind the county council's latest initiative to get people shopping locally.

We want to write special features on our success stories and help to fill some of the empty stores by making sure everyone knows what a great town Ilkeston could be in which to shop and work.

Paul Calladine, market town co-ordinator with the Erewash Partnership, who have already made efforts to keep Ilkeston thriving, said: "Town centre viability is right at the top of the Partnership's agenda.

"We welcome the Advertiser's campaign and look forward to working together to support local businesses."

Manager of Midlands Co-op's Ilkeston department store, Dave Elliott, said: "Naturally we welcome any initiative that increases customer footfall to the town.

"In terms of our own department store we are planning to introduce additional concessions to increase customer choice and enhance their shopping experience."

What do you think can be done to help restore our town centre to its former glory. Let us know by commenting on this story.