To paraphrase the words of legendary spoof local journalist Alan Partridge: So: what do you think about the pedestrianisation of Hitchin Town centre?

While Steve Coogan's iconic character was referring to his hometown of Norwich, the reality in Hitchin is that our town centre could be permanently pedestrianised.

As visitors to Market Place will know, the area is already shut to vehicles. That came after Herts County Council issued a Temporary Traffic Road Order during the height of the pandemic in the spring of 2020.

The move came about more to help with social distancing than any long terms plans to remove traffic in and around the square.

With Covid raging back then, there were fears about people congregating around the few stores and shops that were open during the peak of the pandemic back in March and April 2020, including Greggs, Poundland and HSBC.

However, the temporary fix proved popular with shoppers and many businesses in the centre of Hitchin, with feedback from residents showing that 85 per cent were in favour of measures.

Fast forward nearly 18 months, the temporary measures are about to expire - meaning a more permanent structure could be in place.

Hence the signs visitors to Hitchin High Street may have seen recently, advising that from February 25 an experimental traffic order will kick in.

Effectively, this will be a review for the next 18 months, which will see Hitchin High Street locked from 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday, with a view to permanent pedestrianisation plans.

In the meantime permit holders will still be allowed access and there will be provision for 10 disabled parking bays near to West Alley shops.

Hitchin Nub News spoke to town centre supremo Tom Hardy who explained: "From the Hitchin BID's perspective it is important for us to create a safe environment, but also to ensure businesses in the town centre are not affected operationally, and can still access stock and deliveries.

"If anyone has any comments it is important that they email Herts CC at [email protected] with their opinions."

What do you think? Once you've sent your comments to Herts CC - let us know what you think about the possible permanent pedestrianisation of Hitchin town centre.