COUNCIL bosses are preparing to give their seal of approval to the £102million Blackburn Shopping Centre sell-off.

Leading councillors are studying paperwork concerning the deal, in which they have a 16 per cent stake.

Main owner, Standard Life, put the centre up for sale in October and has been in negotiations with various buyers ever since.

After one deal, with London-based property giant shopping centre regeneration experts Tops Estates, collapsed in January, Standard Life went back to other firms which had bid for the centre.

One firm, believed to be a venture capitalist with a history of investing heavily in property before selling it off again, has now been selected by Standard Life and details of what they would do with the shopping centre have been passed to the council.

The council is keeping its share in the shopping centre, but it has to approve the new buyer before Standard Life can finally sell up.

Coun Andy Kay, executive member for regeneration, said: "We have started looking at the papers supplied to us.

"We need to go through it very carefully because this sale has the potential to be massive for Blackburn as a whole.

"The sort of things our officers have been looking at include what the company's history is, the financial clout they have and what they have planned for the shopping centre.

"We hope to sign the papers shortly."

Executive member for resources John Milburn, also has to be satisfied with the deal, which will be reported to the next meeting of the council's executive board.

The council said last year, when 'For Sale' signs went up, that the most important thing from a new buyer would be a promise to renovate Lord Square.

In a recent assessment, the rundown state of Lord Square is listed as the biggest threat to town centre regeneration because of its bad look.