One popular seaside town could see a new lease of life due to a new scheme. Local businesses and community groups could be given a “right to rent” if they cannot be filled commercially. This would see the empty shops brought back into use. In the UK, the trial scheme will take place in Bournemouth, with plans also set to include Christchurch and Poole.

If a building or shop has been empty for 365 days or more over a period of 24 months, the local authority will work with the landlord to fill the space. Independent businesses or local groups are then able to bid for a tenancy of between one and five years in the event they can’t come to an agreement.

This comes after a huge number of UK high streets are struggling with empty buildings.

Across the country, it’s not an uncommon sight to see shops closing and nothing reappearing in their places.

The UK High Street is in crisis, with over 13,000 stores shutting down last year, and experts warn that even more closures are on the horizon, impacting some of the country’s biggest retailers.

High Street retailers are being squeezed by competition from online stores, coupled with high commercial rents and sluggish consumer spending, as they battle to keep their flagship shops viable.

Bournemouth West Labour MP, Jessica Toale, told the BBC that the scheme could “revitalise Bournemouth town centre and our local high streets.”

Toale says the scheme could “breathe new life back into the high streets.”

Local resident Pam Gomer told the BBC that the town feels empty, she says: “I've lived here ever since the 1960s, and the differences are enormous.

“The big departmental stores have gone now. It's just got a different feel about Bournemouth. I still love coming here, but you know it's just a different feel.”

But Bournemouth is not the only town experiencing this issue; if the scheme is successful, it could be rolled out in other parts of the UK.