The plastic sheeting and scaffolding surrounds a building that previously sold domestic electrical goods and was soon to be transformed into the entrance to a new shopping centre.

The Watford Observer published some archive photos of the beginning of construction of the Mars One project, the original name given to the multi-million-pound development that was to become the Harlequin Centre, yesterday.

Those pictures - which you can see via this link - were taken on August 30, 1988 and a month-and-a-half later our photographer returned to that part of the town centre to capture this scene of the former Ketts store on the corner of Queens Road.

The former Ketts store on the corner of Queens RoadThe former Ketts store on the corner of Queens Road (Image: Watford Museum)

The shop had closed down and demolition work was underway to turn it into the entrance area for the new shopping centre, which is now atria.

The transformation of the former electrical goods store was underwayThe transformation of the former electrical goods store was underway (Image: Watford Observer)

Part of the shop’s history was incorporated into the design of the Harlequin as it was topped with a copy of the Ketts dome after the original fell apart.

The entrance to the Harlequin in 1990The entrance to the Harlequin in 1990 (Image: Watford Observer)