TWO independent Chepstow businesses have said their town council needs to do more to raise the profile of the high street and support local traders.

Dawn Floyd, one of the owners of St Mary’s St Collectables on St Mary Street, was the first business to raise her concern for local businesses after feeling that councillors don't come round often enough to discuss issues with them.

Mrs Floyd said she feels strongly about the town centre as it is a small community with independent businesses who work hard, and believes more needs to be done to raise the profile of Chepstow.

She said: “We’ve got wonderful businesses here who are trying hard and working hard to keep on going.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw one of our town councillors coming round to see us all. They only have to walk round here and have a chat with the businesses, get a feel for it and see what’s missing."

Fellow St Mary Street shop owner, Anne Reid, who runs Undy Yarn Crafts, said the town’s profile would be raised if there were more events taking place in the town centre.

"The events are always on the outskirts [of Chepstow] and there is nothing going on in the town centre,” Mrs Reid said.

"I agree the town council aren't doing anything and I think they need to pedestrianise all of the town centre as it’s something they need to do to bring in more people to the centre.”

But the mayor of Chepstow, cllr Paul Pavia said the town council is always trying to be proactive and develop local businesses, as well as to bring tourism into Chepstow.

Cllr Pavia said: “We have close working links with Chepstow Chambers of Commerce and we have direct representation on the Chepstow marketing group but we always welcome constructive feedback from business owners on what we can do to support them and help improve trading conditions.

“We are currently in discussions with Monmouthshire County Council about the future of local services and are encouraging them to work with us to further engage businesses in the town, so that we can shape together the long-term future of the town to ensure it continues to flourish and prosper.”

The business complaints come as recent figures from the National Assembly of Wales show the amount of weekly shoppers visiting town centres has plummeted.

Data from the National Assembly of Wales shows that Abergavenny town centre lost 56 per cent of shoppers between 2005 and 2015, with Caldicot losing 29 per cent and Chepstow losing 10 per cent of its weekly shoppers.

Regarding the business complaints, head of economy and enterprise at Monmouthshire County Council Cath Fallon said: "The promotion of enterprise, economic development and job creation is a key priority for Monmouthshire County Council and we are aware of the issues that local businesses face, including retailers in our market towns.

"We strive to ensure that the public and private sector work together and work closely with business groups like the Chepstow Chamber of Commerce to ensure the county is an attractive place to do business.

"We are very happy to meet with individual businesses that would like to find out more about the support available to them."