06 February 2023 , 10:25
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A once vibrant shopping centre has become a ghost town after years of neglect and vandalism.
New photos show the eerily quiet and deserted Crossways shopping centre in Paignton, Devon, which was once visited by celebrities including actor and filmmaker Sir Richard Attenborough.
The shopping centre saw its last shop - Cancer Research UK - close its doors last year, signalling the end.
Torbay Council has decided to demolish the site and replace it with 90 units of sheltered and care housing for people with disabilities to live independently.
Graffiti is now scrawled across the shopping centre's walls and overgrown weeds make their home through the cracks in the paving.
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Torbay Council has decided to demolish the site (Danielle Turner)DevonLive was given a final look around the dilapidated shopping centre to explore the ghostly ruins.
A view directly from the top of Crossways leads down to dark and lonely corridors once bustling with shoppers.
The now walled-off shopping centre has fallen apart in its isolation.
The glass-clad stairwell which leads up to the empty car park (Danielle Turner)Here the glass-clad stairwell leads to a deserted car park once full of the cars of busy shoppers.
According to Project Manager Paul Munro, the car park is said to be the most difficult part of the demolition because it's made of strong reinforced concrete.
The view from the Hyde Road entrance paints a similar ghostly picture of the deserted shopping centre.
The shopping centre saw its last shop - Cancer Research UK - close its doors last year (Danielle Turner)Once again, weeds and graffiti cement their place amongst the empty shops, including the Crossways Pharmacy and a fabric shop.
The Sean Hickey Studio, once a photography shop at No.2 Crossways, now sits empty.
Sean Hickey sadly passed away in 2017 but his legacy lives on.
Sean Hickey opened his photography studio in the 1970s (Danielle Turner)The council has arranged for original signs above the door to be presented back to the Hickey family as a lasting memory of their time in Crossways.
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Whilst on site the Hickey Family said: “As a family, in late 2022 we visited his old shop and to our surprise discovered that some of the original signage was still in place.
"After knowing this, we put a request in to Torbay Council to salvage as much of the shop signage as possible. Sean passed away in 2017 and having a piece of him back is a great comfort to us and his legacy.
"Thank you to Torbay Council for making this happen for us."