A TOWN centre resident wants people to take notice of the poor state of Colchester.

Terry Earl has made a four-minute video, detailing the town centre’s shortcomings, which he has posted on sharing site YouTube.

It has attracted almost 4,000 views in just three days and has generated dozens of comments, both positive negative.

“I got mad and I got a camera,” Mr Earl said.

“I don’t want to blame anyone for what has happened, I just want to highlight how bad things have got here in Colchester.

“For a lot of people, Colchester has lost its identity and has never got it back.”

The video chronicles perceived ‘problems’ in the town, including the £26m Firstsite art gallery, the former and new bus stations and the vacant Keddies factory, in St Botolph’s Street.

Mr Earl, who shot the still image video early on Friday morning, also shows a number of vacant shop fronts in the town centre and finishes by urging action on old cinema, in Crouch Street, before showing a ‘Bus Lane Suspended’ sign at the bottom of North Hill, in connection with the ill-fated High Street car ban, which lasted for a month.

He made the still image video after deciding not to go away for Easter and instead to have a day out in Colchester. 

“We went to all the places I suspect a tourist would go; the castle, the museums, but I was struck by the things we had been missing, the empty shops, the places which have ben vacant for decades and I just thought ‘this needs sorting out’," Mr Earl said. 

Mr Earl also said after receiving some negative comments, he is happy to produce a sequel within the next few weeks, detailing the good things Colchester has to offer.

“Of course it is a biased video, I’ve focused on the bad bits, but there are good bits here as well and I would be only too happy to show them as well,” he added.

Watch the video below: