In pictures: Take a look at the progress being made 10 months into the £10m Market Square refurbishment in Northampton

Take a look at the latest pictures of the progress being made 10 months into the £10million Market Square refurbishment in Northampton town centre.

Chronicle and Echo headed down to the Market Square on Wednesday (December 6) to take pictures of how the Market Square is looking 10 months into its revamp.

The first section of brand new paving outside the Grosvenor Centre opened in November, providing a glimpse of what the site will look like once complete next summer.

Pictures show that new paving is starting to take shape outside the Peacock Place building, which is set to be converted into a STACK ‘innovative food hall and leisure space’.

New bespoke fixed permanent stalls are set to be craned into the Market Square on Thursday (December 7) just for show, having arrived from overseas. These stalls will provide market traders with new permanent fixed spaces, according to WNC.

A council spokeswoman said: “The next steps for the market stalls will be to install the relevant infrastructure and paving to house the stalls and connect the necessary utilities. As well as connect the wider plant for the whole area. This work will be in line with the wider regeneration of the site.”

The spokeswoman added that new paving and grouting installation in the north-eastern section nears completion (near the Grosvenor Centre), while efforts to raise the formation for new paving to the east are underway (near Burger King). In the south-east, essential drainage works and subbase laying for new paving are in progress (close to Nandos). Ongoing tasks involve the installation of water feature pipework, a water holding tank, and foundational work. Importantly, cobbles are being retained and reused within the scheme.

The works started on site in February this year, which saw traders kicked off and moved down to the controversial Commercial Street car park.

A WNC spokesman previously said that the costs of the project, which was initially £8.4 million, has increased to around £10million.

A council spokesman said: “The initial construction cost for the project at £8.4 million was outlined in early 2020. Three years on, construction costs are significantly higher due to inflation and lasting effects of the pandemic. The revised projected cost is £10 million, which is being funded through different funding streams including £8.4m from the Future High Street Fund, Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) which can only be spent on infrastructure projects, and £500,000 reallocation for other capital works.

“There are many live services and complex aspects of this large-scale programme but work is progressing well within the schedule.”