The hard-pressed 'high street' could receive a welcome boost with the news that shoppers may be handed a £150 voucher to spend in stores.

According to reports in the Daily Mirror a government think-tank has been exploring ways to aid struggling shops that have suffered badly through the Covid crisis.

The programme, already nicknamed 'Shop Out to Help Out' - in reference to the 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme which saw people given a free £10 voucher for restaurants and eateries last summer - would provide a timely tonic for struggling businesses hit badly by the pandemic.

If you throw in the fact that retail is already facing serious challenges from the growth of online giants such as Amazon, it is clear drastic measures are required to prevent shops up and down the country, including our area, from closing for good.

Even a town such as Hitchin - long renowned for the quality of its independent shops prior to three long lockdowns over the last 12 months - would welcome new initiatives that could persuade people to return to the town centre, once lockdown eases and all shops re-open.

No wonder the government is considering new ideas

One such plan mooted is the concept that every adult would be given the £150 voucher to spend in shops under a think tank's idea to boost the high street when lockdown ends.

Every child under the age of 16 would also be handed £75 under the £9bn scheme being proposed by the Resolution Foundation.

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In a recent report, the body says the voucher scheme should be part of a £70bn programme later in the year, including £27bn for retraining and job support and £18bn in green investment.

While the notion comes way too soon to be implemented in chancellor Rishi Sunak's budget on Wednesday, it is clear that a dramatic recovery package could be introduced later in the year.

The programme could include the vouchers nicknamed 'Shop Out to Eat Out' - as well as lower alcohol duty for pubs and restaurants struggling through lockdown.

The think tank's report, 'How to throw good money after good', suggests different ways to top up the £280bn already committed to Covid to help our economy recover.

The report explained: "These vouchers could be spent in physical non-food retail, where there is more likelihood that consumption is likely to re-bound more slowly than in other services such as pubs and restaurants.

"This is likely to be the case, with more survey respondents reporting plans to increase their spending on restaurants and pubs after the pandemic than decrease spending.

"[However] roughly equal proportions of respondents suggesting they would increase or decrease their spending on clothes and other retail.

"This temporary voucher scheme would slow but not halt the longer-term trend towards online retail."

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