Everybody loves a bit of retail therapy.

Meandering from store to store, allowing your eye to be caught by a window display here, a bargain there… it’s a British pastime as popular as drinking tea or complaining about the weather.

But too often, options are limited to chain stores, discounters and soulless out-of-town shopping centres.

Not here in Sussex.

The much-heralded demise of the high street is a phenomenon which mercifully has not happened here.

Meandering the alleys and twittens of market towns across the country, you can pick up rare antique pottery and glassware in Chichester’s pedestrianised streets.

Those hunting for ancient maps and centuries-old furniture will come from hundreds of miles to unearth treasures in the antique shops of Petworth and Arundel.

And whether it is fashion victims perusing the retro boutiques of Lewes such as Brigden & Bayliss, or hoarders finding knick-knacks in Eastbourne’s gift shops, Sussex shoppers have their pick of personal, personable individual retailers.

And of course, the pièce de résistance is in the very heart of Brighton and Hove.

Because you can keep Oxford Street and Bond Street, Rodeo Drive and Fifth Avenue - none of those Meccas of consumerism have a patch on The Lanes, as any Brighton shopper would attest.

Handmade jewellery. Designer clothes. Cutting edge art. Even vegetarian shoes. And all of it cheek by jowl with a selection of coffee shops, bistros and pubs which a London shopper would give their John Lewis personalised shopping service for.

For kitchenware there's homegrown Bert's Homestore, for spice lovers Brighton Chilli Shop and chocoholics there is Choccywoccydoodah.

One example of the personal touch of independent retailer is Posh Totty whose gifts bear an individual message for the recipient.

Founder Alice Rivers-Cripps of Posh Totty said: “It is just the place to be. There isn’t anywhere that’s quite as independent as Brighton.

“It’s an exciting cultural experience, you’ve got street art on the walls and independent traders in every shop so you never know what you’re going to find round some corner or up some alley.

“There are so many streets where it’s all independent and the traders are working there themselves.

“It’s definitely not like any other high street in the country, frankly I wish more places were like this.”