Step closer for town centre

The £500 million transformation of Stafford Town Centre has taken a step closer to reality after a busy car dealership closed its doors, paving the way for the long-awaited project.

The Bostons of Stafford site, located on the Queensway island, off Lichfield Road, is to form part of the £100 million Riverside Regeneration scheme.

The company's lease on the premises had been due to expire in March but company bosses have now decided to shut up shop early and transfer business to another branch of the family motor group in Milford.

The Fiat dealership had been operating for eight years and was previously a Suzuki car shop.

The site will now be ready for its transformation as part of the town centre revamp which will take in the nearby Bridge Street multi-storey car park, the former Tesco store and Riverside Recreation centre.

The scheme includes the creation of a footbridge over the A34 Lichfield Road along with a residential care home with 141 places being considered for the site by developers Trent City Securities.

The Bostons of Stafford commercial vehicles business has also relocated from the island site to Milford and all members of staff have moved to the new base. The company is laying on a free taxi service for existing customers to allow them to get home or go shopping in Stafford when they drop in their vehicles for servicing.

Bostons sales controller Fiona Boston said: "We have left the site early so we can settle in at our other branch and concentrate on the new registration in March."

The regeneration project will also see a multi-screen cinema, department store, 148-bed hotel, housing and offices created. Other sites to be redeveloped include Tipping Street, Kingsmead car park and St George's Hospital. The combined schemes will add an extra 377,816sq ft of shops, 262,130sq ft of leisure facilities and 221,599sq ft of office space to the town centre.