THE hunt is on to find a new developer for a rundown site in the centre of Blackburn after a £12million project involving a leading fashion retailer collapsed.

Regeneration chiefs at Blackburn with Darwen Council today revealed the project announced in April had been withdrawn by the developers.

The council has not given a reason for the decision or revealed the developer or retailer involved.

But Steve Hoyle, director of regeneration at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said everyone was confident another user would be found.

The council had helped assemble a large site at the junction of Salford and Penny Street which would have been used by the clothing retailer.

It would have involved removing several run-down shops in Salford which had been described as 'eyesores' by town centre traders.

Mr Hoyle said: "The development originally planned will now not take place.

"We have the land assembled and there are other parties interested in the site. It is a key gateway to the town centre, but at the same time is not at the centre's retail core."

Details of the developer and the name of the clothing shop were not revealed in public although they have been disclosed to members of Blackburn with Darwen Council's executive committee, which approved the sale of council land in principle.

The project was discussed in private because it involves commercially sensitive information.

It was one of three projects the council hoped would help keep the regeneration of Blackburn town centre going over the next year.

Manchester developer Henry Boot last month secured planning permission to build a new retail park on the Nova Scotia Mill site on the outskirts of the town centre.

A company has also been lined up for Prospect Mill, Eanam, to be used as offices, although a planning application has yet to be submitted and the firm's identity has not been revealed.

Ronnie O'Keeffe, president of the Blackburn and District Chamber of Trade, said: "It is important that this site is developed as soon as possible. It will help rejuvenate a rundown site and will help improve footfall through the market and on Penny Street."