“I understand why they would want the sheds demolished,” she said. “These ones, though, I genuinely believe are of historic interest to the town.

“Instead of demolishing it, I’d hoped it could be used as part of the refurbishment of the site as a retail unit or even accommodation. It’s a shame. It’s yet another thing the town is going to lose.

“Buildings like this are few and far between. In other parts of the country, they have saved them and have turned them into facilities for the community to use.”

Sarah Howard, chairman of One Haverhill, however, hailed the potential of the site which could, under the town centre masterplan, become a community hub with shops, cafes and a ‘21st century market place’. Developers have already highlighted the demolition of the light shed buildings as key to improving access to the site.

Mrs Howard said: “It’s a shame to lose the heritage, but, by losing that, we can preserve the rest.

“It is really important to keep the main buildings in use and, by giving developers the opportunity to look at the site, we can move forward with the buildings. We lose history so that we can move on with the new.”