'Give us free parking!' - Your solution to restoring Hanley to its former glory

The closure of yet another store inside Stoke-on-Trent's main shopping centre has once again brought the state of Hanley into sharp focus. Aroma Obsessions last weekend followed Stoke City and USC in shutting their Potteries Centre stores this year.

It comes as a resident has complained about land behind Huntbach Street being taken over by prostitutes and drug addicts. There has also been a report of a makeshift homeless camp next to Hanley TSB.

Now StokeonTrentLive readers have lamented the current state of Hanley - and given their solutions to turn around the once-bustling city centre. And top of the list is bringing back free parking.

StokeonTrentLive readers - in their own words - on the state of Hanley:

Simon Roberts said: "I had a business in Hanley Market and the town has major issues. If we want Hanley to get better like the past then we have to show some faith. There should be free parking. Use the shopping centre. I would love to trade there again."

Stephen Oultram said: "I walked through Hanley today and it was just full of drug-takers and the down and outs sitting on the benches and shouting at each other and then on the opposite corner you have a bunch of them drinking. You have to step over them at times. It just feels so unsafe. I would hate to be anywhere near the place after 5.30pm because there is a good chance of being assaulted or asked for change and when you say 'sorry I use card only' you get sworn at. Hanley needs a massive police presence and the car parking free to stand any chance."

Claire Jackson said: "Walking through a graveyard in the dark on Halloween is far more appealing than going to Hanley. Get rid of the dustheads, smackheads and anyone else who regularly makes the area feel unsafe and it may change - or pigs might fly."

Stephen Woodward said: "Hanley used to be the go-to shopping area of The Potteries. I lived in Hanley for 15 years when it was also the top place for nightlife with clubs like The Place, Valentino's, Regimes, Branningans, Chicago Rock and Jumping Jacks. Now there's nothing. Its a ghost town full of boarded-up shops and rough sleepers. It's a tragedy that the council has allowed it to get into this state and is only interested in building car parks."

Pamela Johnson said: "I have lived in Hanley for 40 years and I'm now looking over my shoulder every time I venture into town which isn't that often now as I'm scared of all the undesirables up there. It is a complete dumping ground."

Samantha Hughes-Johnson said: "It is all very sad. When I was a child Hanley town centre was ablaze with shops and shoppers. You could literally buy anything and everything one needed. Lewis’s was superb - I can still smell the freshly ground coffee in their food hall! Bratt and Dyke was also wonderful… and Webberleys… what a loss. And in the 1990s, the shopping centre was attractive, vibrant and welcoming, with the food court as its hub, rather than the bleak, old, semi-boarded-up edifice it has become today. Sadly the depletion of our local industries and the changing needs of shoppers have left us with a dying town centre and no shops of quality. What comes next - I have no idea. But what I do know is that the people of North Staffordshire deserve better than the festering apathy otherwise known as Hanley town centre."

Mark Heath said: "The car parks should be free. The council has driven the shoppers away."

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