Three quarters of Packet readers want to see family entertainment brought to Helston - and the most popular option is a bowling alley.

The Helston Packet ran an online poll at thepacket.co.uk last week, giving readers the chance to vote on three suggested uses for the the former supermarket building in the Trengrouse Way car park.

These were some of the most common suggestions put forward by readers when Budgens closed its doors more than a year ago, and which have been raised on social media during the many discussions over what Helston needs to do to survive.

We had 1,245 people vote and, of those, 63 per cent wanted the empty car park building to be converted into a bowling alley.

A further a 12 per cent voted for a roller rink, showing that the desire for somewhere families can spend time together, or friends can meet up, which when added together means three quarters of votes were for an entertainment attraction.

The final option, for an Iceland supermarket, attracted 25 per cent of the votes.

Some commenters have described the exercise as “pointless” – and yes it’s true that we can’t force a business to take over the site.

It may even be, as we pointed out last week, that the preferred option chosen by you isn’t in fact interested in coming to Helston.

But what the poll has done is get people talking and engaging again, about a building that nothing has happened to for more than a year. And that can only be a good thing, surely?

The fact that more than 1,100 people took the time to vote shows that there is still an interest in the future of Helston and this is still an interest in the future of Helston and this is information that the new Helston Community Interest Company, which is just days away from being official, can hopefully use to its advantage.

CIC spokesman Mike Hales said: "It's very encouraging that there is so much interest from Helston residents, thanks to the Packet, in projects to improve the quality of life in the town. This building has immense potential for multiple uses in the town centre and it is very much in the thoughts of Helston CIC.

"We would like to scope the building for a multi-purpose future and bring some ideas, including a bowling alley, to a public meeting for discussion. These things are more complicated than they seem and any future use for the building will take a lot of hard work planning and funding. Helston CIC exists to undertake that work on behalf of the community."

In the meantime, we will do as promised and now get in touch with the biggest companies behind bowling alleys and similar entertainment centres, to show them the will of the people is there – it’s now down to them.

Like they say – nothing ventured, nothing gained.