Debra Uphill, of Basildon, Essex, writes:

I read with interest the article about the A-boards being removed from Dartmouth's pavements by Devon County Council.

One woman said that the town generally didn't seem as busy as last year.

I would just like to say I had great difficulty in spending money in Dartmouth on my last visit at end of June, mainly because a lot, and I mean a lot, of shops in the town are opening really late and closing early.

One of the worst offenders I found was in Foss Street.

I saw something in a shop there at the beginning of our visit and wanted to purchase it toward the end of our stay.

However, after five attempts gave up as it was never open. My daughter-in-law found it open on the Friday lunchtime before we left but couldn't contact me to see if I still wanted to buy the gift, so asked the man in the shop what time they opened on the Saturday. He was having a disagreement with a woman in the shop at the time, not really what customers want to witness, but he replied the shop would open at 11am. Yes, 11am on a Saturday.

Do you want our money or don't you?

There are such wonderful shops in Dartmouth that you can find open and they give wonderful customer service and are always friendly, such as the Kitchen Shop, Home, Lazy Sundays, Inside Out, Gale Force, the Good Intent, the Frying Pan, Crab Shell, National Trust, Pillars and the wonderful Sloping Deck bakers, plus probably a lot more that we don't regularly visit.

Those I have mentioned are our regulars who we know we can rely on, but I do feel sorry that they are being let down by other shops in the town.

We like to go to the beach when the weather's good, so tend to pop into the town to pick up lunch and purchase goods before we go off for the day, not wanting to miss out on valuable beach time.

But I'm afraid there really isn't much point when a lot of shops are not open.

Could this be the reason the town seems quieter?

Maybe Dartmouth is getting a reputation for closed signs.

To those who open late, I say come on, support the rest of the shops who do open and take a leaf out of their book because there's one thing for certain you will not take any money with them shut.

I do feel I am qualified to comment as I have worked in retail for over 30 years, and my husband in supermarket management for around 40 years,so we know our stuff.

We have had around two years worth of holidays in you wonderful town when we add them up, so know Dartmouth very well.

I hope that when we return in a few weeks there may be some improvement but I'm not holding my breath.

I think its a bit sad that retail is having a tough time at the moment but there are things that could be improved in your town, that is if you do want to survive.