A NEAR £12 million plan to extend Burnley town centre and create more than 170 new jobs was unveiled by town hall bosses today.

The Lodge Square Action plan will open up a "hidden" area of the centre bounded by Lower St James Street and Hammerton Street - creating a natural link the the Weavers' Triangle developments,.

The three year project will involve the demolition of an ageing red brick block of shops on St James Street and the creation of new pedestrian links from Hammerton Street into the Square.

Plans for major improvements to commercial properties ion the area are also planned.

The scheme, which will be considered by the town's Urban Regeneration Committee on Wednesday, has been drawn up by independent consultants and will go out to full public consultation in the Summer.

A start to the project, which could involve £3.5 million public cash including European funding and an £8.45 million investment from the private sector, could come before the end of the year, say town hall chiefs.

The overall aim is to extend the town centre into a now "forgotten" district, with landscaping and pedestrian-friendly developments to make it attractive and well-used. There will be huge investment to make it a "high quality" area, say the consultants.

They say the clearance of the "poor condition" red brick block in St James Street is a vital element of the proposals.

The complete development of the whole site is targeted for December 2001 in the plan.

The scheme is the latest in a long list of multi million pounds improvements for the town centre to get Burnley fighting fit to attract more visitors and shoppers in the new millennium.

Two years ago the £12 million refurbishment of the Market Square area was completed and now the £12 million shopping and parking project is well under way.

There are also multi million pound plans for the redevelopment of the massive Prestige site, Burnley bus station, Proctor's foundry and the weavers' triangle area in the pipeline.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.