HAVING courted controversy from the start, Blackburn's Church Street regeneration project was today rocked by the disclosure that it will not be finished this summer as planned.

And now traders -- many of whom feared of loss of custom when this major through-route was closed to traffic -- are worried that the delay may turn the scheme into "another train station."

They may be hasty in coupling the completion of the Church Street project with the dreadful delays of more than a year that dogged the multi-million-pound revamp of the town's railway station -- another key component in Blackburn's town-centre regeneration programme.

But they are right to be worried at this setback. For it comes in the wake of the plan to turn the street's long-neglected, historical Pavilions buildings into an up-market bar-restaurant being hit by a year's delay and a doubling in cost.

Now, it is revealed that the pedestrianisation of the street is a month behind schedule and that the five modern-art sculptures that are to be a major feature of its new look will not be in place until September.

This is a pity. Not only does it mean that much of the summer will have gone when the project opens -- minus the anchor development of the restored Pavilions -- and when the establishment of an alfresco atmosphere there is central to its attraction. But also there is a danger of the new-look Church Street's impact being diminished by the delayed and piecemeal path to its completion.

The weather and, in the case of the Pavilions, untoward circumstance may earn some of the blame. But as the Church Street scheme is crucial to the Council's concept of making Blackburn a more attractive place for people to come and spend money in by day and by night -- an aim everyone applauds -- it is vital that it does not become bogged down any more.

It is an exciting project and every effort must be made to ensure it is an immediate success and not "another train station."