Odds-on for a new bookies

Welshpool’s town centre is on the verge of losing another shop space, after William Hill submitted an application to turn the current Stead & Simpson shoe shop into the town’s second bookmakers.

Despite committing its future to the town only last year, Stead & Simpson has decided that its rent is too high to justify a drop in footfall, so William Hill has swooped in to ask for 9-10 Broad Street to be changed from retail to a licensed betting office.

While it may be a disappointing development for shoppers, it is good news for gamblers who will now have a choice of betting shops for the first time with Coral’s monopoly of the town ending.

Anyone wanting to comment on the proposals has until September 23 to submit them to Powys County Council.