The Business Improvement District (Bid) proposal was backed in a ballot of businesses which took place last Thursday.

In total around 27 per cent of businesses within the town centre voted in the ballot, with 73.75 per cent in terms of number and 79.88 per cent in terms of rateable value backing the proposal.

The Bid plan was put forward by Daventry Town Centre Partnership.

Sally Halson from the partnership said: “We’re over the moon. This is a real opportunity for Daventry over the next five years.

“The Bid will help existing town centre businesses to continue to grow and flourish as the town grows.”

The Bid will come into force on April 1, and the first thing people will see happening is the town centre’s pavements being cleaned.

Carol Stimpson from La Patisserie in High Street said: “It’s got to be a good thing if it improves the town centre.

“We’ve got to make sure that the town centre is a place where people want to come and shop and spend their time.”

Aftab Gaffar, operations director for Rugby Town Centre Bid, which has been running for two years, said: “The thing is we are a private organisation, separate from the council and from the police, responsible to our businesses and we do what they want and they come first.”

Rugby’s Bid has given the town centre an enhanced CCTV network, has uniformed rangers on the streets to help combat anti-social behaviour and help shoppers, and offers a dedicated cleaning team to help remove mess and waste that can appear suddenly or overnight outside shops.

Daventry’s Bid will be funded by a two per cent increase on business rates paid by all shops and businesses within the town centre district, whether they took part in the ballot or not.

That levy will increase to 2.26 per cent by 2012/2013.

For 2008/2009 a budget of £156,874 has been outlined to spend on improving first impressions, the experience of using the area, and other topics.