DEVELOPERS and council officials have failed to agree over a £15million redevelopment plan for Blackburn's Lord Square which traders fear could create a "Berlin Wall."

Reit Asset Management, the company which owns the shopping centre, met with Blackburn with Darwen planning bosses yesterday to find a solution to the concerns.

The council and Blackburn with District Chamber of Trade both said they had reservations about the redevelopment of Lord Square into a covered shopping area with new shops after plans unveiled last month showed no new entrance in Church Street.

The council has spent more than £1million developing the street and is anxious any plans to improve Lord Square make the most of Church Street.

Representatives from London-based Reit met with Blackburn with Darwen officers yesterday, but failed to come up with a solution both sides could agree on.

Graham Burgess, an executive director with Blackburn with Darwen, said the council was shown a series of revised drawings which outlined Reit's new plans for the development.

And he said that changes to the original plans included further improvements to the existing entrance into Lord Square from Church Street.

According to Mr Burgess, Reit has now agreed to put windows on all three floors of the new Church Street elevation, but has not budged on putting an entrance to the new development across from the council's newly renovated Church Street pavilions.

The original plans for the Church Street elevation only included shop windows on the ground floor and the existing entrance via Grosvenor Way.

It is believed the decision to keep the existing entrance would increase the number of people passing through the new development. And shopping centre bosses believe fewer entrances would reduce shoplifting and improve security.

Graham Burgess, an executive director at Blackburn with Darwen said: "Reit has shown us drawings which are improvements on the original design, but we have still got some reservations and a further meeting is planned."

President of Blackburn with District Chamber of Trade, Raymond Goldstone said: "I suppose now we will have a Berlin Wall with a view. When the modernisation of Church Street was announced we were shown plans with entrances running through to Lord Square, but we are still some way off that.

"We want Reit and the council to come up with something that is something like those original plans, otherwise Church Street could end up a white elephant."

A further meeting is now planned for the end of the month. Kevin McGrath, a Reit spokesman, said: "We had a constructive meeting with the council and we are hoping we can find an amicable solution to the issue."