Town centre steering group chairman Peter Atkinson raised the issue of closing the £1m one-way bridge last month, but was told by West Berkshire Council that no decision would be made until plans for the £120m shopping centre were passed. Now that has happened, a full debate is on the cards.

Also, some retailers led by Broadways hairdresser Andy Goodwin, are meeting with members of the Vision 2025 team to discuss banning cars from the Broadway as soon as Park Way is finished.

In the meantime, the suggestion is to create short-term parking bays in Broadway, both to partly address the loss of nearly two thirds of town centre car parks before new spaces are added in 2010, and to stimulate trade after newbury.net revealed how 10 businesses had gone to the wall in the last 18 months.