WHILE in a York clothing shop recently I enquired if the July sales had been successful.

I was told that, while the company that owned the shop was very successful, and had indeed had a good sale period, the York shop had not.

Apparently the York shop’s own sales figures are low, reduced by a very large percentage on recent years.

This is because of high levels of internet shopping, including on the company’s own internet site.

This is resulting in the shop being used by many of us not to buy items but simply to collect or, more frequently, to return unwanted items purchased online.

This means that the shop gets no profit for these sales and sometimes actually has to send its own stock back to company headquarters so that internet orders can be fulfilled, reducing the stock available in the shop.

Thus the shop is in danger of being closed down, as has happened to so many other shops in York city centre.

If we insist on ordering items on the internet we must realise the consequences of our actions. We are directly contributing to the demise of local shops and the city centre.

This is now a serious issue with the future of our high streets dependent upon us actually supporting the shops in them rather than sitting at home facing a screen.

This is really urgent. Please think before going online.

S Young, York