Much of the traffic should become a thing of the past as a bypass is expected within the next three years. One of the leaders of the bypass campaign is Christopher Groome, a town and borough councillor who has been fighting the cause for ten years.

Mr Groome, who is Burton born and bred, sees a brighter future for the town once lorries thundering down the High Street are no more. "The town is not cut in half by the A6 in the same way as Desborough, but people are very conscious of which side of the A6 they live. The High Street can be an unattractive place to shop with lorries whizzing past next to narrow pavements. One or two shops are empty at the moment and I would hope that the bypass will take away about 75% of the traffic, and the High Street will once again become a pleasant place to go."

For Mr Groome, one of the town's greatest attractions is the willingness of local people to accept newcomers. "There are places with both established residents and newcomers. A lot of the people who have given a great deal to the town have come in and been immedietly adopted."

Another benefit of the bypass will be improved transport links into the town. Mr Groome commented, "Burton Latimer is the only part of Kettering borough which is a net importer of labour - we have more jobs than people living in the town. It is very entrepenurial town with everything from one-man businesses to huge firms like Weetabix and Alumasc. Looking forward I would like to see a high quality business park in the Polwell Lane area. I believe people should work in pleasant surroundings and not cooped up in concrete and tarmac."

Another reason he is so fond of the town is the self reliance shown by the people; "They don't sit back and expect handouts. If something needs doing they do it themselves. The best examples of this are the sports facilities and the Latimer Swimming Pool Trust. The sports facilities used to be very poor, so a number of volunteers got together to form the Latimer Sports Association. We also want a swimming pool and so far we have raised £75,000 towards our target of £100,000."

One of the adopted Burtonians is Jack Addis, who comes originally form just down the road in Finedon. He started the Burton scout group in 1938 and soon afterwards bought a house in the town and has now put down his roots. He said: "I wouldn't leave Burton for all the tea in China! It is a friendly town, it's clean and it has all the services you could wish for. It has a library, shops, a good bus service, good pubs - what more could you wish for? It has expanded dramatically over the past 20 years and brought in a lot of people from all over the country, some of them now commute to London to work. I think they have been a benefit because they bring in new blood and obviously spend money here which is good for the town!"

To read more about the building of the A6 bypass click here