The West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) is currently working to improve Gold Street and is expected to move into Abington Street in the future.

And town historian Michael Bull, who is a member of the Heritage History Hunters group, has said that as the town's expansion and development progresses more emphasis should be paid to the historic buildings which still exist in the town, but are often overlooked.

He said: "There are lots of really lovely shop fronts and I think they should retain them as much as is possible. We've already had so much of Northampton destroyed.

"There are some very nice shops in Gold Street and in Abington Street, the last thing we want to see is everything knocked down.

"A lot of other towns have tried to retain their 'old town' and they're much nicer because of that.

"So I think in Northampton we should certainly make more of our history."

The deputy leader of Northamptonshire County Council, Councillor Ben Smith (Con, Greens Norton), who is also a board member of the WNDC, agreed the expansion must take notice of the town's history.

He said: "If you look above the shop fronts, a lot of the architecture is fantastic and a lot of it has been left untouched and not meddled with.

"So we want to work with shopkeepers to make the town look as good as it possibly can."

Gold Street is currently having its pavements widened and new benches and lampposts installed as part of a £6 million scheme to improve the link between All Saints Church and the railway station.

Work on the project was supposed to be finished before Christmas, but after delays, it will continue into the New Year.

To help traders, work will be cancelled between December 1 and January 5.