Lowestoft desperately seeking new identity - historian

The decline of the fishing industry in Lowestoft has played its part in the town's fortunes, historian Ivan Bunn says

A historian says England's most easterly town is "desperately" trying to find a "new identity" - as figures show one in four shops are empty.

A council report has shown that Lowestoft's "retail unit vacancy rate" is the highest in east Suffolk.

Ivan Bunn said he thought the difficulties Lowestoft was experiencing were a consequence of the decline of its seafaring industries - and tourism.

Mr Bunn doubts whether the town will return to "what it used to be".

The East Suffolk Council report suggested that a rise in online shopping meant people no longer wanted town centres to be "mainly for meeting retail needs".

A quarter of shops empty in Suffolk town

It warned that town centres may have to "shrink" their retail areas in the wake of a "cultural shift" and people wanted a more "holistic social, leisure and entertainment experience".

Lowestoft historian Ivan Bunn (left) joined forces with writer Dean Parkin to tell the stories of Lowestoft's most historic street

Mr Bunn, who in August helped produce a series of films exploring the history of Lowestoft's High Street, said he thought the "wider aspect" of the town's problem was the decline in its fishing industry from the 1960s.

"There are a number of factors," he said.

"The wider aspect - I think it is the fact that we have lost fishing. The whole focus of the town was nautical."

The historian says Lowestoft is seeking a "new identity" but is struggling with competition

Mr Bunn said when he was a child the summer also brought tourists to Lowestoft, and they would spend money in shops.

He said people could now holiday abroad more cheaply.

"I still think Lowestoft is desperately trying to seek a new identity," he said.

"I don't think we will ever see the town centre resurrect back to what it used to be."

Mr Bunn said Lowestoft had grown from a small village to a thriving fishing port and said everything had now changed.

He added: "We all become history in the end."