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'Where is the £7m of business rates?
Chorley traders are demanding to know how £7m worth of their business rates is being spent in the town centre.
Figures show that Chorley Council collected more than 20m in business rates last year.
From this they received more than 7m back from the government - but now traders are demanding to see how it's being used to improve the town centre.
Malcolm Allen, owner of Malcolm's Musicland in Chapel Street and one of the longest established independent traders in the town, said he wanted to see the money used to combat parking issues.
He added: "In 2008/09 Chorley Council received 7.22m back from the business rates. That is for the whole borough, but the businesses in and around the precinct are contributing a lot towards that total.
"Businesses pay thousands of pounds each year and we want to see how that money is being spent in the town centre and what on.
"Parking is an issue and with more new houses being built all the time the problem is only getting worse. Because of the layout of the town, with Tesco and B&Q not being in the centre, it is difficult for people to use public transport.
"If phase two of Market Walk goes ahead we'll also lose even more spaces so we need to find a solution."
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Weather for Chorley
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
