THE move to sell Blackburn shopping centre has come eight months after the Lancashire Evening Telegraph launched a campaign calling for a major re-development of Lord Square.

The "forgotten corner" of the centre, which links the majority of shops with the newly renovated Church Street, has prompted concern among businesses and retailers.

Some said it should be pulled down, others that it should be covered and renovated.

One council suggestion was that Standard Life should sell Lord Square to a firm which would invest in it.

There were also growing fears that Lord Square had the potential to stifle other regeneration projects.

The council's town centre vision involves getting more white-collar jobs in the town, therefore having more people with a larger disposable income shopping in the town.

But the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce said those same workers would rather travel to a shopping centre such as Preston or the Trafford Centre.

Blackburn's shopping centre was built in the 1960s and for the first decade of its life was hailed by architects as the future of modern retail complexes.

But by the time Standard Life took over the ownership of shopping centre in 1993, it was already showing signs of age.

Unlike management companies or developers -- the businesses which normally run shopping complexes such as the Trafford Centre in Manchester -- Standard Life is an investment company.

As such, ownership of places like Blackburn Shopping Centre was used to make money for investors who had financial interests, such as Standard Life pensions.

Earlier this year, director of the firm's retail portfolio, Mike Hannigan, said this meant Standard Life could not afford to take the same risks as developers in improving its shopping centres.

However, it did not stop it embarking on a multi-million pound scheme to improve the bulk of the shopping centre in the mid 1990s.

Work included re-cladding the building and covering up Victoria Court to make an atrium rather than an open-to-the-elements square.

That work did not include Lord Square, which until this year had remained largely untouched since it was built. Mr Hannigan told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph that the rents that received from the tenants there did not make spending vast sums of money on "phase two" of the shopping centre's redevelopment viable.

Standard Life still believe it has played a key role in the redevelopment of Blackburn.

Mr Hannigan said: "At the time of the refurbishment, and ever since, we have been aware that Lord Square is in need of redevelopment.

"You could say we kicked off the regeneration of the town centre with the work we did on the shopping centre five years ago.

"That could be seen as phase one and if Church Street is phase two then Lord Square could be seen as phase three."

In the meantime, the firm embarked on a series of small works which included painting all the brown tiles white and creating small seating area for people to dine in the fresh air.

Standard Life also unveiled plans to create a "mixed use' feel to the area, by bringing in a nightclub to the site, but nothing has come of this as yet.

Another problem which has beset the company is the continuing difficulty to bring in big-name retailers as others pull out.

Mr Hannigan blamed this partly on the fact it many large firms now prefer to create their own stores on retail parks such as Grimshaw Park and Whitebirk.

But the design of the shopping centre has not helped. Standard Life has found it difficult to find homes for those retailers who have wanted to move in because the units available aren't big enough.

It was for this reason, among others, that the owners of the Bull Ring in Birmingham decided to pull it down and rebuilt it.

It was built at the same time as Blackburn Shopping Centre and designed by the same architects, but by 2000 had been deemed to have outlasted its use.

The feeling among leading councillors is that the sale of the shopping centre can only be good news - whereas Standard Life is a firm which has to answer to stakeholders, a new management company may be more prepared to take risks to make the shopping centre a flagship.