Halifax will benefit from a major crackdown on the unchecked spread of vape shops, betting shops and rogue businesses that do little to serve local communities, says the town’s MP.

Kate Dearden – who is Minister of State for the Future of Work as well as the town’s Labour MP – said under new powers announced by Prime Minister Andy Burnham today changes are on the way.

The Aim to Permit rule, which restricts council’s ability to refuse new betting shops, will be revoked, whilst vape shops and adult gaming centres will require planning permission under the new proposals, she said.

Linked to the Prime Minister’s comments on revitalising high streets, Ms Dearden last week launched her Hope for Our High Streets campaign to make restoring Halifax and Sowerby Bridge’s high streets a major local priority.

She said through the campaign she will work with residents, Calderdale Council, local businesses and organisations to identify practical action across the five priorities at the heart of the campaign.

These include making the town centre safer, bringing empty shops back into use, protecting Halifax’s heritage and improving the appearance of shopfronts, helping independent businesses to grow, and making it easier for people to travel into and around the town centre, said Ms Dearden.

She said the new powers go further, putting Halifax residents back in control of their high streets by giving local people “a real say” over what businesses can open and how the high street should look.

They will also give authorities tougher powers to crack down on rogue operators, she said.

Ms Dearden said the changes come as vape shops and adult gaming centres have spread rapidly across high streets, including, in her constituency, Halifax and Sowerby Bridge.

“People across Halifax are proud of our town and want to see our high streets thriving, but they are understandably frustrated by the growing number of vape and betting shops and poor-quality shop fronts appearing without local people having any meaningful say.

“Residents regularly tell me our town centre feels like a tale of two halves – with some areas thriving while others are being let down by poor-quality shops and empty units.

“Now, with these new powers, we will finally give our community and our council greater control over what opens and where,” she said.