Traders urged to set example to give Honiton residents pride in their town.

IS it time shopkeepers in Honiton turned back the clock and resumed the old tradition of sweeping the pavements outside their premises?

Patricia Franklin, a committee member of Honiton and District Chamber of Commerce and Industry, thinks it is.

She believes traders in the town centre could set an example and instil a new sense of pride in Honiton that could echo out to residential areas.

“Everybody used to sweep the pavements outside their shops,” she told the chamber’s June meeting.

“We all did it, but very few do it now.

“We moan and groan, but we have to take some responsibility.”

Ms Franklin added: “It doesn’t hurt to keep a frontage clean.

“The traders could set an example, to give people some pride in the place they live, work and shop.

“It is a small thing for an individual to do, but it could have a huge impact.”

The meeting heard that, in the past, the sweeping of frontages by shopkeepers was compulsory, enforced with a by-law.

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