Traffic flow was back to normal in Abergavenny town centre this week with the re-opening of Market Street.

The street had been closed for safety reasons while renovation work went ahead on the former China Garden takeaway - a 16th Century listed building - and there were fears that the project might take longer than the predicted four weeks while the specialist contractors sourced appropriate materials.

Diversions signs on Monk Street and other nearby roads while the building work was underway were ignored by some motorists, who chose instead to take advantage of the temporary lifting of access restrictions to High Street.

Several residents complained to the Chronicle that motorists were causing a danger to pedestrians by the way they were driving through what was normally a traffic-free zone.

The complaints led Monmouthshire County Council to introduce traffic calming measures - and local police warned they would come down heavily on any motorists caught driving carelessly or parking vehicles illegally outside shops and businesses.

In the event the renovation project - at an estimated cost of £40,000-£50,000 - was completed on time, giving a welcome facelift to one of the town's oldest and most picturesque streets.

"The project was quite a challenge and I think we've done exceptionally well under the circumstances," said Anthony Davies, managing director of specialist renovation and restoration contractors Anthony A. Davies.

"We knew the building was in quite a bad way but we didn't know what we were facing until the plaster was taken off the walls. Sourcing some of the materials, such as air-dried English oak, was quite difficult too.

"Ideally we would have liked longer but the council was anxious for it to be completed in four weeks.

"We had to prop up the whole of the front of the building as some of the original supporting beams had rotted right through, then take down and rebuild a fair proportion of the front walls.

"We had to remove all the windows - including the dormer windows in the roof - and make replicas to replace them. We also had to re-render the walls with four coats of traditional lime render, which doesn't dry very quickly.

"The roof and some of the roof timbers needed replacing too - running across from the corner bookshop, over Rawlings the butchers to the art shop beyond."

The company worked closely with Monmouthshire County Council's conservation officer throughout the project.

The newly-restored building, which is currently attracting much interest from locals and visitors, should last for centuries to come.