Shoppers would like to see a wider variety of shops on Borehamwood high street after research showed it was being "taken over" by charity shops.

Online markerplace OnBuy.com carried out a study across the country after initial research found that 50 per cent of people surveyed by Demos think there should be “fewer” charity shops on our busiest shopping streets, with a large portion associating charity shops with the high street decline.

Closer to home, researchers found that 80 per cent of the apparel shops in Borehamwood high street were in fact charity apparel shops.

It comes at a time when high street shops faces one of its toughest periods ever.

The Times asked people of Borehamwood what they thought of the high street.

Liam Wraith said he would like to see more variety on the high street.

He said: “We need more types of stores; maybe a gaming shop, a furniture store, shops that sell quirky products. We need useful shops that will benefit our local economy.”

Karren Harding added: “I think the high street could do with a bit of a facelift. The selection of clothing shops need to be for all genders and ages.”

Joanna Nash said: "We need to encourage independent shop owners, ones that would bring in a variety of different things to our high street. There are too many charity shops." 

However Eddie Morrison thinks he knows why clothing shops are avoiding the high street.

He said: “A combination of the Internet and high rents means it’s becoming increasingly harder to survive on the high street. The reason restaurants do well is because they have always have to be visited whereas shopping online for clothes is so much easier.”

Despite the assumption that charity shops were "taking over" high streets, OnBuy concluded that it was clothing chains "abandoning" the high street.

In response to the survey, Allison Swaine-Hughes, retail operations director the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which has a branch in Borehamwood, said: “For millions of people, charity shops are an extremely important part of the high street.

"We are occupying a retail space that might have otherwise been left empty, and we’re raising vital funds for BHF research to improve treatments for heart disease.”