WORK to combine High Wycombe's shabby Octagon shopping arcade and the state of the art Eden centre is due to start next month.

The old and new centres are to be merged into one huge 850,000 sq ft shopping area that will open in Spring 2008.

Developers Multiplex is hoping new flooring, doors, lighting and decor will transform the Octagon to bring it in line with the Eden development, that will house a 12 screen cinema and 18 lane bowling alley.

The Octagon will not close while the 12-month overhaul is carried out though as builders will work through the night and complete one section at a time.

Work within some of the centre will be limited because part of it sits under Abbey Way, and so some of the low ceilings will stay in place.

The refurbishment will start at the Mothercare and Evans end of the centre and finish by the string of shops near Tesco.

Keith Redshaw, development director for Multiplex, said: "The idea is to create a seamless integration, like one big shopping centre. The main entrance from Corn Market will be replaced in entirety. The transformation when you stand in Corn Market will be quite amazing.

"I think it will look better than the Oracle at Reading. The idea is to give a feeling of space and light, it should be hugely transformed in its appearance."

Huge glass panels and sleek lines will replace the angular frontage of the centre in Corn Market, and the staircase right in front of it will be moved to give shoppers a clear view of the mall. But there will still be first floor shops.

Mr Redshaw said that currently, High Wycombe is ranked in the retail hierarchy as 96th in the region, but once Eden is opened it will move up the scale to be brought in line with Bath and Tunbridge Wells.

"It should go to about 45, which is a huge leap in terms of retail tracking," he said. "We believe the Octagon refurbishment is so important in making High Wycombe a more appealing shopping destination. The big challenge is looking after our tenants, it will be a bit of a building site."

An information centre, which will act as the main entrance, will replace the current market street area within the Octagon, but smaller shops or traders will not be lost as the area next to Lloyds TSB will be developed into four or five smaller units.

A new entrance into the centre will also be built here.

The centre currently attracts 100,000 shoppers every week, but Multiplex hope this number will more than double when Eden is finished, and is increasing the number of car parking spaces in the town to 16,000.