Historic Victorian villas and five protected trees will be demolished to make way for a new “gateway into town” comprising of a 12 storey office block and a high level footbridge across a busy road.

TJX Europe, which operates TK Maxx, was granted permission to expand its European headquarters to 64 and 73-77 Clarendon Road, Watford, at a development management committee meeting at the Town Hall tonight.

At the moment, the site consists of four vacant properties including two listed detached Victorian villas at numbers 73 and 75, as well as a car repair shop and a three storey office building with 72 car parking spaces at number 77.

However, this will soon be constructed into a new 12 storey office building with a high level footbridge and a basement car park directly opposite Watford Junction Station.

The area will become a campus for TJX Europe, which has been based in Watford for more than 20 years, and will aim to create jobs for 3,000 people by 2031.

SEE ALSO: 'Watford's historic buildings are slowly being destroyed': Outrage at plans to demolish Victorian houses 

Developer Philip Marsden spoke during the meeting and described the design of the new building as “iconic”.

He said: “The design is evolved to reflect the local people and it will be an important gateway into town.

“The buildings will make a significant improvement to the public realm and the workforce in Watford will double to 3,000.

“This will act as the blue print for the rest of Clarendon Road and we strongly believe this is a development Watford can be proud of.”

Cllr Sohail Bashir, who was part of the committee tonight, said he was “in favour” of the plans.

He said: “I was very excited when I saw the design of the building, as it reminds me of something that would be in London.

“I think it will be a major contribution to employment in the town and I have no hesitation in supporting this application.”

Vice chair of the committee cllr Stephen Johnson added during the meeting: “There are lots of positives to this, as it is an impressive building.”

The only concerns about the project included the fact that there would be only 100 car parking spaces and questions were also asked about how the footbridge would be ventilated during summer and winter.

But the doubts did not delay the overall result, as the members of the committee all voted for the development to go ahead.

What do you think of the decision? Email your thoughts to rachel.russell@london.newsquest.co.uk