THE layout of the Eden Shopping centre is probably the best that could be achieved, given that it had to be designed and constructed around the ghastly Tesco building.

If Tesco had participated in the development, and allowed its store to be bulldozed, a much more attractive design could have been planned.

The Tesco building, which has always resembled the KGB headquarters, is now looking increasingly tired and dated.

This eyesore stands as a decaying monument to obstinacy.

For those of us who remember how Tesco's objections scuppered previous development schemes, at considerable cost to the Wycombe taxpayer, it is galling to have to concede that Tesco probably benefits most from the increased footfall past its doors.

It is easy to appreciate that young people, who have money to spend on clothes and accessories, think the new shopping centre is wonderful, but the mix of shops is too heavily biased towards that market.

A big disappointment is Waterstones - a pokey shop apparently crammed with the same best-selling paperbacks that you can find in any supermarket.

If you want any other books, they still have to be ordered.

Surely, a town with a university deserves better.

The rest of the town centre has been left as a dismal retail rump.

White Hart Street, with its closed and boarded up shops, looks as if it anticipates the demolition contractors to move in soon.

The Chilterns Centre is now an irrelevant backwater, which only a necessary visit to the Post Office would entice me to enter.

The shop I really miss is the old M & S store, and specifically its food department. It used to be my nearest food shop, and I walked down there several times a week to buy a few things. The new M&S is a much longer trek.

A usefull addition to the High Street area would be a small food-only supermarket.

To avoid being too depressed by the changes, I now only venture into the town centre once a week to visit the banks or to buy a specific item.

H Garas, Amersham Hill Gardens, High Wycombe