Most readers do not like the new name of Watford’s shopping centre, the results of a poll have found.

The centre, formerly known as intu Watford, has been renamed Atria Watford under the new management of Global Mutual and Savills.

They say the “bold” new name is testament to the centre’s iconic ‘atrium’ skylights that run the length of the shopping and leisure destination and opens out into the glass-ceiling extension.

When the news was announced on Thursday, the Watford Observer published a poll asking people if they liked the name Atria Watford.

And it found that most of the 2,747 people who voted do not like it, with 70 per cent of readers against the new name.

A total of 23 per cent of people did like the name Atria Watford, while six per cent were not sure.

Readers were also asked if they would have preferred Watford’s shopping centre to be renamed the Harlequin – out of 2,108 people who voted 83 per cent said ‘yes’.

Following the takeover of intu Watford in October last year, many readers called for the shopping centre to be renamed the Harlequin, which is what it had been known as for around 20 years.

A lot of shoppers have never stopped calling the shopping centre the Harlequin since it changed name in 2013, and polls and engagement with readers suggested people wanted the name back after intu fell into administration last summer.

Asked why the centre was not being renamed the Harlequin, Steve Gray, Head of European Retail Asset Management at Global Mutual, said the company believes the centre needs a “fresh start” under new ownership “that reflects the exciting future ambitions for Atria Watford”.

He said: “We remain incredibly respectful towards the sentiment The Harlequin holds in Watford, which has helped shape the strong community values the centre has today.

“Having received over £200m investment, including the new £180m extension, new retailers, restaurants and leisure activities, the centre looks unrecognisable from its past self, and will continue to evolve as we welcome exciting new brands and experiences.

“Atria Watford represents these exciting changes and celebrates a limitless, bright and prosperous future for Watford town centre.”