Market move in £8.5m revamp set to start

Traders will move out of a market site to make way for an £8.5m revamp next week.

Northampton's market will shift from the Market Square to a car park on the edge of the town centre for up to two years.

West Northamptonshire Council said the site on Commercial Street was "only a seven-minute walk" from its current home.

Daniel Lister, the authority's cabinet member for economic development, town centre regeneration and growth, said: "What is about to happen in Northampton Market Square will give us a space the whole town will be proud to have at its centre."

The move was confirmed despite protests by traders and a 10,000-strong petition against it.

The Conservative-run authority, as part of a group called Northampton Forward, won an £8.4m grant from the government's Future High Streets Fund.

Plans for the market, which dates back to 1235, include a new water feature, public seating, a lighting scheme and a reduction in permanent market stalls, with temporary ones taking their place.

The council said the temporary market on the Commercial Street car park, opposite the Carlsberg factory, would open on Tuesday.

Conservative Mr Lister said: "It’s a big change and I am appealing to everyone, especially those who haven’t been to the market for a while, get down to Commercial Street, see what they have to offer."

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