Residents living close to one of Britain’s most deprived high streets have revealed over 50 shops, including the £1 store, have been shuttered along their road and claimed it is now arguably the most depressing shopping centre in the country.
Freeman Street was once the jewel of Grimsby – a thriving high street where families flocked on weekends, traders shouted from packed market stalls, and shops buzzed with business.
Today, it stands as a haunting monument to the decline of Britain’s local economies, the streets scarred by boarded-up shops, drug use and despair.
More than 50 shops lie closed on a 250-metre stretch of road, with steel shutters rusting, windows smashed or boarded up.
The few businesses still open are a bleak reflection of the times: vape shops, Turkish barbers, betting shops and fast food outlets.
Marie Moore, 57, who remembers the street in its heyday, said: ‘I’ve lived at the bottom of Freeman Street all my life.
‘And I’ve seen massive changes. As a kid, we’d come here every Saturday. My grandparents took us to the pictures while our parents did the shopping. You couldn’t move for stalls and friendly faces.
Once Grimsby’s main shopping parades, Freeman Street, is now a run-down thoroughfare scarred by decades of decay
Residents have revealed over 50 shops, including the £1 store, have been shuttered along their road
The few businesses still open are a bleak reflection of the times: vape shops, Turkish barbers, betting shops and fast food outlets
Freeman Street stands as a haunting monument to the decline of Britain’s local economies
Marie Moore remembers the street in its heyday and believes there is no way back
‘Now it’s vape shops, Turkish barbers, and charity shops. That’s it. Wherever you look – vapes and barbers. You don’t need twenty of them.
‘Two weeks ago, someone got chased down the street with a knife – a lad who’d been shoplifting from Iceland. He ran straight into a car, then pulled a blade on the security guard.
‘It’s not friendly anymore. We used to know everyone. You’d walk down the market and say, ‘Hiya, Mrs So-and-So! How’s the family?’ Not any more.
Mrs Moore, collecting supplies for a community centre bingo event, added: ‘People are scared. I wouldn’t take my grandkids down here – not now.’
Once Grimsby’s main shopping parade, Freeman Street now a run-down thoroughfare serving one of England’s most deprived communities.
Among the abandoned units is a former pizza parlour that has lain empty for 25 years and counting.
Clutching a photograph of the business her family once owned, Helen Zalam, 61, said Samir’s was once the pride of Freeman Street, attended by the local mayor and mayoress.
Now, the unit sits derelict next to the only working business in a parade of eight – the local post office.
Ms Zalam said: ‘Where our restaurant used to be, it’s now full of flying rats – pigeons.
‘It’s been derelict for years and nothing ever gets done. It’s just an eyesore.
Residents say the area has become a hot-bed for crime and anti-social behaviour
Clutching a photograph of the business her family once owned, Helen Zalam, 61, said Samir’s was once the pride of Freeman Street (Pictured here with her husband)
‘The street is busy with passing traffic but we need some shops. We need a shoe shop, we need some clothes shops. We’ve lost the chemist and the opticians.
‘Any shops are better than no shops.’
Ms Zalam, who now runs a kitchen showroom opposite – one of the few thriving businesses on the street – said she remained hopeful that Freeman Street could be saved.
She added: ‘I’m a glass half-full person. I still have hope for Freeman Street. It needs TLC and to be tidied up but I refuse to accept it is beyond hope.’
In December, a food shop on Freeman Street was shut down by council health officials after a rat infestation was uncovered.
Al-Madina, which describes itself as an international food store, was closed after rat droppings were discovered and bite marks were seen on various products.
The business was ordered to remain closed until the infestation was remedied.
East Marsh estate – which envelopes Freeman Street and the town’s once-bustling fishing docks – has the lowest household income in England and Wales.
East Marsh estate – which envelopes Freeman Street and the town’s once-bustling fishing docks – has the lowest household income in England and Wales
The White Bear is pictured – a former Grimsby pub that has now been boarded up
Ben Watson, 37, born and raised in Grimsby, said: ‘If you’re after fast food or a haircut, you’re alright. But there’s nothing else’. Mr Watson is pictured here with Kelly Claire
The average £22,200 taken home by residents is more than £10,000 below the national average.
Every few yards, the signs of hardship are unmistakable – discarded needles, empty beer cans, and the slumped figures of people with nowhere else to go.
Four pubs on the high street have shut in recent years, along with chain stores Boots and Wilkinsons.
Ben Watson, 37, born and raised in Grimsby, said: ‘If you’re after fast food or a haircut, you’re alright. But there’s nothing else.
‘All the shops have shut down. It’s a ghost high street.
‘There’s a lot of dossers and homeless people begging for money, and needles on the floor. Outside the pubs that are open there’s always trouble.
‘I was walking past with the kids the other day and I told them ‘please can you go and fight somewhere else’.’
Mother of four Danielle Kirman, 36, added: ‘Even the £1 shop shut down. That says it all.
Mother of four Danielle Kirman, 36, said: ‘Even the £1 shop shut down. That says it all’. She is pictured here with one of her children
Stacey Sarjantson, 34, said: ‘It’s just awful. Because so many shops are shut, the street has just become a magnet for anti-social behaviour’
‘People just avoid this area now. It’s just getting worse and worse.
‘Every day there’s another shop that’s shut down.
‘The places that are open are vape shops and barbers – but we don’t need seven of them.’
Stacey Sarjantson, 34, told how her eight-year-old child walked past a drug user sprawled in the middle of the pavement and asked: ‘Why is that man asleep on the floor?’
She said: ‘Nobody wants to tell their kid that there’s a bloke off his face on Spice.
‘It’s just awful. Because so many shops are shut, the street has just become a magnet for anti-social behaviour.
‘There are men walking around like zombies, staggering about.
‘I saw one bloke walking across the car park and he just collapsed and fell to sleep on the spot. If you try and help them then they become aggressive.
Ms Sarjantson said: ‘I saw one bloke walking across the car park and he just collapsed and fell to sleep on the spot. If you try and help them then they become aggressive’
‘There are men walking around like zombies, staggering about’, she added
Ms Sarjantson (pictured) told how her eight-year-old child walked past a drug user sprawled in the middle of the pavement
‘And then at night, the prostitutes come out.
‘I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve noticed the decline massively.
‘There used to be a nice atmosphere but there’s not now.
‘I blame the government. They give money to the cities but none of it makes its way here.
‘This is a forgotten town.’
Freeman Street Market remains one of the few places still clinging on. Inside, a handful of traders try to stay upbeat.
Lou Brosnan, 47, who runs a deli and C.Snow butchers, said: ‘Freeman Street has got a reputation for homelessness and drug users.
‘People don’t seem to be coming here and a lot of traders have left.
Lou Brosnan (pictured), 47, who runs a deli and C.Snow butchers, said: ‘Freeman Street has got a reputation for homelessness and drug users’
More than 13,000 stores on UK high streets closed their doors in 2024, according to figures released by the Centre for Retail Research
‘The whole place feels neglected. There’s plenty that could be done, but nothing ever seems to happen’, Robert Holmes said
‘I don’t know what you can do but something needs to be done to bring them back.
‘Freeman Street Market has been here for years. It’s historic and for it to be like this is really, really sad.’
Walking his dog towards the once bustling fishing docks at the top of Freeman Street, Robert Holmes, 54, blamed successive governments for failing to help.
He said: ‘The whole place feels neglected. There’s plenty that could be done, but nothing ever seems to happen.
‘There’s no sign of any ‘levelling up’ here. If Sir Keir Starmer visited, I’d tell him to open his eyes.
‘It’s only gone downhill. I grew up here, and I’ve seen photos of how vibrant the town used to be. The centre was full of life. Now you look around and wonder, ‘How did it come to this?’
‘If politicians wanted to fix things, they could – it would take serious investment, but the will just isn’t there.’
More than 13,000 stores on UK high streets closed their doors in 2024, according to figures released by the Centre for Retail Research.
North East Lincolnshire Council told MailOnline said that Freeman Street was ‘an important hub of activity for the town.’
A spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Grimsby’s main retail area is focused around the Freshney Place Shopping Centre, taking in Victoria Street and the immediate town centre. A vast amount of work is being carried here, which is known locally as ‘Top Town’, to ensure continued success of our shops supported by a vastly improved leisure and community offer.
‘There is a £50m redevelopment scheme for the Western end of Freshney Place. This leisure, food hall and market hall scheme will incorporate a new cinema with units for leisure and will complement the retail offer that exists.
‘The council-owned Freshney Place is successful with a 95% occupancy rate. It employs approx. 1,700 local people and with the new redevelopment, that is set to increase. A new NHS Community Diagnostic Centre, (CDC) has also opened in the centre itself, which is attracting significant numbers of people for appointments – increasing footfall to our main retail and town centre area.
‘Alongside that there are plans for more than 200 new homes, a new business centre, and a massive new Onside Horizon Youth Zone, which will also attract footfall and support retail and leisure in this main ‘Top Town’ area.
‘The council wishes to be clear that Freeman Street, whilst not the main shopping area for Grimsby, is an important hub of activity for the town and over the last two decades work has been done, and continues, on creating a mix of community uses. The market, which is independently owned, along the street has re-invented itself with a successful mix of stalls and food outlets attached to a well-used business hub. YMCA Humber is also making huge strides with its purpose-built new Grimsby headquarters and adjoining sports and activity facilities.
‘The council continues to work in partnership with such organisations to develop this element of the street and its surrounding area. The authority also wishes to highlight the variety of community groups and organisations that are also working together for the good of both Freeman Street and the whole of the surrounding East Marsh community.
‘We are confident in the years ahead that the council can continue to work with partners to carry on this present focus for Freeman Street.’
