The people have spoken, and they (mostly) want their market back.

When we asked our readers what they would like to see in the now vacant Debenhams site in the intu extension, we were expecting names of other big department stores - although there aren’t as many as there were. Or maybe two or three other, smaller, stores, and the inevitable flats.

But it seems many in Watford still remember the days when the market was the core of Charter Place and want it back - and it might not be as unrealistic as it seems.

Even the stalls of a few years ago would not be able to muster anything like the rent a major department store chain could.

But can anyone name a department store that’s thriving? Lockdown has arguably done to the retail sector what the internet would have done anyway - just faster.

And a trip to St Albans on market day shows the life and bustle a good market can bring to a place.

It might not be a big name, but people love browsing given the right mix of stalls

So if intu manages to evade administration today and the centre stays open, a market might be part of the new normal.

And if our readers are any guide, they would be glad to get back in there.