Narberth has been mentioned 22 times in a Welsh Assembly document on the regeneration of town centres.

The Assembly's enterprise and business committee visited Narberth on a factfinding mission in November to hear at first-hand the views and concerns of local business people, and to find out more about the successful regeneration of the town centre over the last few decades.

During the visit, the committee met local members of the Chamber of Trade and representatives from Pembrokeshire County Council. While in Narberth. They also visited a number of shops to discuss matters around town centre regeneration with local business people.

"We were very struck by the passion and commitment among that community, and despite the considerable challenges the town still faces, we hope that their good experiences can be replicated elsewhere in Wales," stated the report, in which the committee has drawn upon all the written and oral evidence presented to them to highlight a number of challenges facing Wales' town centres, and made 21 recommendations for addressing them.

"Twelve of those recommendations require concerted Government action, so we urge the Minister to respond positively to our suggestions. We are under no illusions that regeneration of town centres will happen overnight. Nevertheless, we trust that the Welsh Government will act upon our findings and that its regeneration policies will benefit as a result."

The report also carries a detailed annex on the factfinding visit to Narberth and addresses issues including business rates, transport, planning and last October's introduction of a carrier bag charge.

Secretary of the town's Chamber of Trade, Gordon Barry, said: "The Chamber was pleased that we were able to host the committee during its investigations and earnestly hope that both Narberth's lessons and problems may be taken forward in trying to solve town centre regeneration.

"We are pleased to see that the committee's recommendations look to encourage and extend existing good practice where it successfully exists and to extend that to other areas of Wales.

"Also for the Welsh Government to be encouraged to legislate reducing the negative effects of unfair and uncompetitive business rates, parking restrictions and out of town developments."