I went to the old Marks and Spencer in Birmingham and it scared me to death

Even since the new Marks and Spencer store opened in the Bullring in November the question has cropped up; what's to become of the old High Street shop now that the brand has moved indoors? It's been a tricky one to answer.

M&S hasn't been able to share any information on it when we've asked, nor the company that owns so much of the city centre. Yesterday, I thought I'd take a stroll down to the old shop, to see if I could spot any signs of movement at the grand old location.

There are no 'to let' or 'for sale' signs anywhere, just a banner to say where the new M&S store is located, plus some pasted flyers in support of Palestine. Aside from that, everything is shuttered up and unremarkable.

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I found a gap in the window stickers and peered inside to see nothing but a dark, empty space. With so much potential and so much room to take up, I do wonder what could possibly occupy such a gigantic unit - I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below, if you'd be happy to share them.

This end of town really needs something good because it all looks pretty bleak. Further down the road Beauty Central, a bright and buzzy destination for hair care, wigs and more felt like the only good reasons to bother heading down in the direction of Dale End at all. Sure, there's a Boots, but there's one of them in New Street station, and a big one up in the Bullring.

I popped in to Card Factory to see how things were faring there, just in time to see a furious man shouting at a staff member, calling her all sorts of disgusting names and pointing in her face. She was calling on a radio for support, saying that she'd asked 'two shoplifters' to go and they weren't keen to follow the request. One man losing his cool at the accusation.

It was all pretty frightening and I was scared to death for the woman so, without really thinking, I strolled over and strategically positioned myself right between them, pretending to look at greeting cards, so he couldn't get closer to her than he already was if he decided to go for her. It was a gut decision that could have gone horribly wrong, in hindsight. I didn't want to interfere, but I didn't want to leave her to handle it alone.

I'd only come down to nose around and now my heckles were up - you read horror stories from town all of the time and I was worried for her given she was just trying to do her job. How often does this happen?

The staff member was dealing with it all calmly but she really shouldn't have had to - retail staff aren't paid anywhere near enough to have to handle such terrible treatment when simply trying to get by. I wondered, if there were more people down this way, more shops open to visit and a more steady flow of foot traffic, if it would have been quite so easy for the antagonist to treat her like that?

Once the situation diffused, I circled up Union Street and made a beeline for one of my favourite spots in Brum, the Great Western Arcade, where everything just feels a little more alive. Safer.

It's alarming just now quickly things can change when you're just one road over. It reminds me of that time I went to Los Angeles and a wrong turn took me from bright lights, big city to Skid Row, where mansions are on a hill, looking down on square miles of shanty town. Is that where we're headed?!

Whenever an outsider tells me that they hear that Birmingham is 'rough', I usually shrug it off. But down by the old M&S this week? I feel like I get what they're referring to when they say that kind of thing. What's the solution?

If you've any insight into the plans for the old M&S, get in touch and let me know (I'm on kirsty.bosley@reachplc.com). What's the answer to making this corner of the city feel safer? Let us know in the comments below.