ARGUS readers have called for more services to return to their local high streets, which have seen banks and post offices disappear in recent years.

We asked our followers on Facebook which businesses or attractions they wanted to come back to their hometowns.

And while there was a big hit of nostalgia for many people who responded - calling for the resurrection of old chains like Woolworths and British Home Stores - other people reflected on the changing face of the high street and the services it used to provide.

In Newport this included calls for a cinema to reopen in the city centre. The Cineworld in Friars Walk closed down at the beginning of the pandemic, in 2020, and has stood unused ever since.

There were also calls for a large music venue and a swimming pool. These were both facilities inside the now-closed Newport Centre, in Usk Way, which previously hosted big acts such as David Bowie.

A new swimming pool is planned for a nearby site next to the university campus, but that "state-of-the-art" building will not include a hall for concerts.

Shanna Hiscox said the city needed "a decent large capacity music venue".

"Newport had a rich history in music once upon a time," she lamented.

There were calls for more everyday services, including a dedicated post office building in Newport, a bank in Usk, and pubs in Crosskeys.

When it came to shops, several readers from Tredegar said the town needed more retailers, including clothes and shoe stores.

Among them was Zara Warren, who called Tredegar "a ghost town".

Anne Beasley, from Caldicot, said her hometown "would be glad to have anything".

Back in Newport, there was support for the return of a Marks and Spencer clothes shop. While M&S trades in John Frost Square, the store only sells groceries, and the nearest outlet selling clothes and home goods is in the out-of-town retail park in Spytty.

The same is true of the Clarks shoe shop, while Inese Bauze wanted the return of home and crafts store Flying Tiger, which left the city's Friars Walk shopping centre in 2020, a year after its Cwmbran branch shut.

Other readers clamoured for shops which have sadly departed UK high streets.

Chief among them was Woolworths, which won the support of several readers, including Brooklynl Evans, who said the chain had "the best pick 'n' mix".

There were also calls for the revival of Debenhams, which left high streets in 2021, British Home Stores, and Dorothy Perkins.

Perhaps Melanie Goldsworthy best summed up readers' wishes when she asked for "all the shops from the 80's".

"We had a very busy town centre back in the day - what happened?" she asked.