Lighting improvements estimated to cost £268,000 will be installed in a busy shopping area in north Watford.

However, Hertfordshire County Council confirmed today that the works will not go ahead until after April – the beginning of the next financial year.

The plight of St Albans Road came under scrutiny at last week's meeting of Watford Borough Council's Cabinet.

Councillors were presented with a report produced by the council's Call-in and Performance Scrutiny Committee, who wanted to see whether targets to improve the shopping area were being met.

It found the area has improved aesthetically and that it was cleaner.

But it also conceded that the “over ambitious” project had “lost momentum” and the economy was in decline – in line with the national downturn.

Lighting along St Albans Road had also been earmarked for improvements since 2005 and at the cabinet meeting, councillors expressed their “unhappiness” that this had still not been completed.

Councillor Iain Sharpe said: “The county council is not going to do the lighting project until the next financial year and only if the bidding process is successful. I find that a bitter disappointment.

“We have tried to carry out this project in partnership with other organisations. The lighting is the last stage of that. The county has known we have tried to get a project of improvements going. We should not be very happy about this.

“I feel we are legitimate in feeling let down about it.”

Councillor Sharpe added that there had been some successful improvements in the area.

He said: “The stop and shop bays are a success in that they have been used. We did a consultation on a CPZ (controlled parking zone). People said no but there was a parking problem in the area and we reached a conclusion we were happy with.

“There's now a traders' association so there are positives that have come out of this that we can be pleased with.”

Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said: “We all have a concern where our major secondary shopping centre is struggling the way it is.

“The Call-in and Performance Scrutiny Committee were hoping we could do more but when we actually looked through what can we do through a recession to make St Albans Road better - the actual things a district council can do are extremely limited and that was almost the reflected result of the report that what could be done has been done.”

Councillor Derek Scudder said: “The main problem with St Albans Road is the untidy shop frontages. It blots the whole area. It's a product of the recession.”

County Council representative Andrew Dawson said: “Hertfordshire County Council is very hopeful that the cost of installing the lights in St Albans Road will be met using a combination of highways funding and contributions from developers, with the aim of construction taking place within the financial year beginning in April.

“In partnership with Watford Borough Council, we aim to enhance the lighting for the benefit of cyclists, pedestrians and bus travellers, which in turn should benefit local traders by encouraging more people to shop in the area.”