Northbrook Street traders are bracing themselves for the second revamp in seven years, as the council spends £500,000 on making it look like Bartholomew Street. According to the council, the move will “give the neighbouring towns a run for their money”, by making Newbury “even more attractive for shoppers and visitors”.

The recent £850,000 makeover of Bartholomew Street is reported to have increased profits from passing trade, and the Northbrook Street scheme features new streetlights and benches. Bartholomew Street is also to be dug up to lay a new gas pipeline in a related project for Transco.

The four-month Northbrook Street project starts on Monday February 6, and is due to finish on June 24, one week before Newbury Carnival. It will be closely followed by the £850,000 pedestrianisation of the Market Place, and a £700,000 plan to give Cheap Street the same treatment.

Meanwhile, workmen will be moving on to the cinema site in Cheap Street this September, which will still be ongoing when both Park Way and Market Street are redeveloped.

A timescale to redesign the Wharf have yet to be agreed, but the public consultation is imminent.

All schemes are to be finished by 2010 as part of the Newbury Vision 2025.

Local contractor Hope & Clay has been selected to do the work in Northbrook Street, and Vision Cllr Emma Webster says: “We are moving forward to maximize the existing assets of Newbury and create a town to be really proud of, that will stand alone as an attraction, and give neighbouring centres a run for their money.”