Cafe backs market revamp despite drop in revenue

Cafe Track is on the market square in Northampton, where building work has been going on for more than a year

A cafe based on a market square undergoing an £8.5m revamp said there had been a "significant impact" on revenue, but it was still supportive of the project.

The work in Northampton is part of wider multimillion-pound regeneration of the town centre.

A temporary market place has been set up while the work is ongoing.

Tom Cliffe, owner of Cafe Track, said he hoped the work would finish "as soon as [it] can, we'd love to get back to beautiful peace and quiet".

Cafe Track employs people with autism - some of whom have struggled with the noise of the work

West Northamptonshire Council, as part of a group called Northampton Forward, put in a bid for £12.2m from the government's Future High Streets Fund and won an £8.4m grant.

The renovations, which will eventually provide modern market stalls, stepped seating, artworks and a water feature, form part of a £33m revamp of Northampton town centre.

Tom Cliffe has run Cafe Track in Northampton for five years

Mr Cliffe said: "We've been supportive of the project generally [but] it's had a significant impact on our sales and revenue."

The cafe employs people with autism and he said "there's members of staff where it's just too loud and they can't work here at the moment, which is challenging".

"But we want it to be something positive... where this can be something Northampton can be proud of," he said.

The market square work is part of a wider regeneration of Northampton town centre

The market dates back to 1235 and fragments of medieval shoes, textiles and pottery dating from 1200 to 1350 have been found during the project.

Mr Cliffe said a lot of towns and cities would be jealous of "the history that Northampton has [and] we've got to embrace our heritage".

He described the work as "a new step forward... and then get some great events on [the square]".