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Woody Boucher runs a mobility aids shop in Park Parade and moved into one of Mr Smith's shops last October.

He said: "I used to do the Leigh Park market on a Thursday. One day I bumped into Mark and he said he was going to buy some shops.

"The rent is very good here. When you are starting a new business you need to keep the overheads low and have flexibility in the lease. Business has been great."

The promising success story at Leigh Park is in stark contrast to the gloomy predictions for high streets across the rest of the UK.

A report by the Local Data Company (LDC) has predicted a rise in the number of empty shops in 2012.

According to the report, 14.3% of shops across the UK were empty in 2011.

Mark says he has been approached by other landlords asking how he had managed to rent his properties.

"I am very proactive. I'm not an absent landlord like some others; I take pleasure in assisting the shops with business advice and troubleshooting any problems.

"Adapting the high street is not that simple: it needs good shops to attract people in.

"Tenants have to adapt - perhaps have an online presence as well. There are a number of factors.

"To see some shops that had been empty for over 20 years with new tenants starting a business and telling me they are busy - I am very, very pleased.

"It goes to prove that the high street can be successful, it just needs to be aware of how to adapt."

Life in the Hampshire town is certainly livelier now and the landlord’s determination to bring the town back to life is certainly bucking a national trend. However, Mr Smith warned that unless the community continues to support local shops then the businesses would fail in the long run. He and his tenants have provided the public with shops that are needed; they must now play their part and use them.

Mark and the newly formed Leigh Park Traders Association recently worked together to hold a massive street party to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. There were around 5,000 attendees throughout the day, making it one of the biggest parties in the South. These people had come to see the numerous attractions booked as well as to see their new local shops.

One attendee said, "I can’t believe how much things have changed here. I’ll certainly be coming back here more often!”

Looking forward, Mark is in the process of acquiring another five retail units and is hoping to have at least one of them as an attraction to encourage more families to use the high street regularly. Hopefully other high streets will have similar success stories in the near future.