“Dan, I think you have too much time on your hands and maybe a trip to the Disney Store would help cheer you up.”

“it appears that Grumpy has got lost and is now living in Lympstone...if anyone finds him can you return him please, Happy, Bashful and Dopey are missing him!”

“No idea - I'm far too busy to research into every single chain store in the country to see what their morals are before deciding whether to shop there or not.

I would suggest if you feel that strongly about it, don't bother to go shopping at all - no one is holding a gun to your head to make you go in Disney Store. We'll all make our own decisions about it. Some of us are very happy that there is finally going to be a Disney Store in Exeter.”

“CJ. Are you telling me then that the Body Shop or H&M have the same sort of moral standing as Disney?

AP. When people are miserable when something bad happens that means they're likely to be enthusiastic when something good happens. When people are enthusiastic about everything that means they should be locked up.

TD. My my my what a sad world it is when anyone who opposes exploitation and greed gets called bitter and twisted, by people who are obviously carefree enough to be blithe to other people's unhappiness, and even make a virtue of their callousness. I congratulate you on being so well adjusted. I'm sure you'll go far.

SB. Whose future? the future is a contested term. I don't think turning the world into a concreted hellhole full of giant talking mice is inevitable. And bombing the town to knee height would be a 'change', but not all change is good is it?”

“Dan, with the future comes change and that is where we are heading so instead of been angry about the Disney arriving to Princesshay lets be happy that the shop will be filled instead of standing empty.”

“My my my what bitter and twisted people there are out there. I'll tell you what, lets just let Exeter die on it's arse, much the same as Exmouth is, by moaning and opposing any new store that wants to bring business to the city. Some people need to get off their moral high horse and get out into the real world and realise that boarded up shops are neither attractive or financially good for the city. So if Mickey Mouse and Tigger can help bring a tiny bit of life back into Princesshay then bring it on.”

“Dan, I'm sure that you can say the same thing about any chain store. Tell you what, shall we ban all chain stores from coming to Exeter and leave it with an empty shopping area? That way we can kill off hundreds of jobs and end up with a ghost town - great idea!!!!!

Cullompton is an example of a town that only has independent retailers in the shopping area - I would go and visit it if I were you and see just how thriving (or not) it is - just like Lympstone!”

“Why are people so down beat about this news? Would they rather have shops boarded up and closed in the city centre or open with the opportunity for jobs!!!

Miserable gits!!”

“Moaning? Since when is disagreeing with rampaging corporations classified as moaning? I thought that was what we call 'thinking'.

Tell you what would be a lovely surprise if instead of wide-eyed pollyanna optimism and incessant forelock tugging the people of this town could take the minimal time and effort required to actually inform themselves about the subject in hand. Go and find out about Disney, if you don't already know. Go and find out about Walt, what kind of man he was and what kind of corporation bears his name. Find out about their record on employment, on unions, on the environment.

The E&E won't print it - they censor all my posts here and post tame eviscerated versions of what I've written - I imagine they're scared of legal action. You'll have to do a little work. When you've finished get back to me with your enthusiasm about the new jobs coming to Exeter.

If you're actually genuinely enthused about some corporation selling plastic schlock and sanitised fairytales coming to the town may I humbly suggest you get some kind of life.”

“Why are people always moaning that there aren't enough independent shops in Exeter? The majority of shops (if not all) in South Street, Fore Street, Queen Street, and Gandy Street are Independents. How many more do we need?

The reason why Princesshay is full of chain stores, is that the rent is so high that nobody other than chain stores can afford to have a shop there. In case no one has noticed, a large number of shops in Princeshay are now standing empty so instead of moaning that yet another chain is coming to Exeter, let's be glad that at least something is going to fill one of the empty shops and bring jobs to the city.”