Is this the end for Sneinton Dale, Carlton Road & Woodborough Road shops ?

Nick Boles, planning minister, will grant local authorities far greater freedom to convert retail premises into private housing as the internet transforms the way Britons shop.

In a consultation paper due out this week, councils across England will be told to concentrate their efforts on revitalising shopping to just one or two "prime streets". The rest can be converted into homes.

Insiders said the change would likely see the end of "long straggly shopping streets heading out of town" and shorten existing high streets.

Mr Boles will also allow farmers to convert old agricultural buildings such as cowsheds or stables into housing.

The high street proposals mark a dramatic shift in policy from a Coalition that just two years ago hired 'Queen of Shops' Mary Portas to save high streets up and down the country. In June, she attacked the Government for continually refusing to commit to the "town centre first" planning policy that was central to her recommendations.

Retail chiefs said Mr Boles' proposals marked the first time a minister had publicly admitted the high street in its traditional sense was beyond saving.

Bill Grimsey, a campaigner who has called on ministers to admit the high street is dying and needs radical reform, said: "As soon as I heard this I tweeted 'Hooray'." He added: "At last the message is getting through, that there are high streets out there that do need to be considered in a very different way. It's only going to get worse.

"We have been saying it for some time, high streets cannot continue to serve solely as a retail destination, they have to be seen as a community hub."

Another executive told The Daily Telegraph: "Given the over expansion into out of town shopping, and now the rise of the internet, there is just too much retail space. I think it's a clear and honest statement by the Minister."

Mr Boles department was unable to provide any more detail behind his plans.

A spokesman said there was no current estimate of how many homes could be created through the relaxed planning rules. He insisted the Minister was not "abandoning" the high street, and that creating housing closer to those shops in prime locations may actually boost business.

But in an interview, Mr Boles said: "People's shopping habits are changing very fast as a result of the rise in internet shopping and changes in lifestyle and working patterns.

"We need to think creatively about how to help town centres thrive in this new era. We want to encourage local councils to concentrate retail activity into the prime shopping streets in the heart of their town centres and adopt a more relaxed approach to underused retail frontages."