James Bone has owned the field opposite the Holiday Inn for around four years.

Despite many questions being asked by residents of Watermead, Mr Bone has failed to specify what the land is to be used for.

"You are in for a big surprise," he added.

The land was granted planning permission for a garden centre, about 20 years ago.

Even though a sign has been erected on the land, stating clearly that a garden centre is soon to arrive, Mr Bone will not reveal what will be going there.

Intrigue was sparked when the land was being cleared and flattened after being left relatively untouched for the last four years.

Under planning laws, land that has planning permission can remain valid, providing a certain amount of work is carried out on the land in a certain time frame – depending on the nature of the planning permission.

Mr Bone has been undertaking small amounts of work every eight months or so after taking over the plot.

A spokesman from AVDC's planning department said: "We cannot start to speculate about what might be going on the land.

"There are some types of plans that do not need permission, so he could well put something temporarily on the land without permission, but that really could be anything."

Mr Bone runs two car boot sales: one in Aston Clinton and one in Weston Turville.

There has been speculation that Watermead could be turned into another car boot sale, as planning permission is not needed for one, provided it's carried out within a 28-day period.

One local resident said: "The field was really overgrown and since the circus arrived a while back there has been no news as to what was happening with the land.

"There has been a sign up for years saying 'garden centre coming soon' but nothing seems to have come of it.

"There's so many rumours flying around that it was going to be used for car boot sales or for the circus again now they have started to seriously clear the field, and I think residents are just really interested as to exactly what's going on with the land.

"I know from speaking to people that a garden centre would be welcomed with open arms by most residents."