MULTI-million pound plans to redevelop Curzon Street, Burnley, could be delayed by a public inquiry into the controversial proposals.

The £12.5m scheme, put forward by Great Portland Estates in conjunction with Burnley Council, will be discussed at the next planning meeting, but the council's decision must go to the Secretary of State for the Environment, John Prescott.

He will decide whether or not the plans are to be approved and if, as there already have been, there is significant public protest at the proposals, he could call a public inquiry. The site of St James Spire is at the centre of the proposed new multi-storey car park and part of the planning application is for the spire's demolition.

Already there have been numerous protests and a petition carrying several hundred names has been submitted calling for the spire to be saved.

The ambitious plans would involve the demolition of the existing car stack to be replaced with two-storey department stores and a new car stack at the rear of the shops.

Great Portland Estates owns the Charter Walk shopping centre and hopes the new development will prove as popular as its revamp of the town centre.

The plan is for the new department stores T J Hughes and Wilkinson to open for Christmas, 1999.

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