YORK’S MP has warned of empty streets and boarded up shops if “chaos” over business rates is not sorted out.

York Central’s Rachael Maskell has told the Business Secretary that traders in York have been hit especially hard by revaluations, and many are “struggling to stay afloat”.

In the Commons this week, Ms Maskell asked Sajid Javid whether he was going to make sure small businesses got the support they needed.

She said some businesses - including the Slip Inn in York - were seeing a 600 per cent increase in their rateable value, with no sign of how relief funds would be distributed - and she asked for an urgent review of the exemption level.

Sajid Javid told her that overall, businesses in the north have seen on average a fall through the revaluation process, and that in York the Conservative-led council and Conservative government had together got a 74 per cent fall in unemployment since 2010. Speaking later, Ms Maskell said the Minister had not grasped the seriousness of the situation in York.

She added: “In the last few months I have met with business owners from across the city and several have told me they face closure if more is not done to help them. He [the minister] talks about an average fall in business rates in the north but this does nothing to address the concerns of business owners here in York.

“I have explained to the minister that rents in York are comparable with those in the south of the country and not the north of England and this situation disadvantages businesses because of over inflated rateable values. The minister appears to miss the point all together and this is bad news for business owners in York.

“I am concerned that the minister’s dismissive attitude will result in more businesses folding in the city. He needs to listen and take people’s concerns on board or we will see more derelict buildings and empty high streets.”