Photographs of Sutton high street a couple of years ago compared with how it looks today show what progress has been made in a relatively short space of time.

Ugly fly-posters have been pulled down, and bright new signs are popping up everywhere.

Pavement seating is springing up outside the many cafes, pubs and restaurants, and graffiti- covered walls have been restored to their original beauty.

"Make Sutton Special" is the message from town centre management - and so far the message is being heard loud and clear by local retailers and outside developers alike, together helping to steer a more attractive Sutton into the Millennium.

Development stages earmarked for August/September include the re-paving of the area outside Safeways supermarket, and the total refurbishment of the train station.

This includes new pedestrian and cycle crossings, taxi ranks and bus bays. Inside there will be cafes, mini supermarket and shops, CCTV, new lighting and lifts to the platforms.

"This is the first part of it - we're really starting at the top of the high street and working our way down," says Brian Madge, head of planning and transportation and chairman of Sutton Town Centre Management Group.

"The next stage is the two new town squares outside the St Nicholas Shopping Centre, which should be finished by the end of September, then the pedestrianisation of the area outside McDonald's as far down as Pitchers."

Teething problems that initially affected the working relationship between open-air market traders and the council seem to have been resolved, with progress finally being made on moving the market to its new site outside Tesco.

"We've been taking out the middle man and have been talking directly to the traders, and the dialogue has been very positive," says Brian. "The old site is most likely to be retail development, and we have already had positive interest."

The development will create more money to allow improvements and upgrading of the area outside Tesco to liven up the north end of the high street.

Next on the agenda are traffic calming measures for the town centre ring-road, including St Nicholas Way and Throwley Way, which will involve more parking bays for the disabled, pedestrian crossings and bus lanes and stops.

A lot of money has already been spent on security, with a CCTV system keeping a close eye on the whole town and improvements constantly being made to the car parks.

And thousands of pounds will be ploughed into keeping the town tidy, with five designated cleaners in the high street alone.

According to town centre manager, Richard Thomas, visitors to Sutton are now spoilt for choice with the ever-increasing amount of shops and leisure facilities on offer.

"We did not push for companies to come to Sutton before, because they might have been disappointed," he says.

"But now, every time we get new people in, we're convinced they will want to stay."

Brian Madge, who has been involved with Sutton Council for 22 years, says so much has changed gradually over time that people do not realise how much things have improved.

"If you remember the high street with no pedestrianisation, lots of cars and businesses closing, you would not recognise it now. It's amazing how it's changed," he says.

And he believes Sutton is well prepared should a recession hit the country's economy.

"We're in a far stronger position than we were in the 1980s, when you had a lot of empty shops and the high street looked like a building site," he says.

Says Richard Thomas: "Now the level of shop vacancies is as low as I can remember."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.