THE SURPRISE closure of a town centre store has upset plans for the second phase of multi-million refurbishment of a shopping centre.

Work on the first stage of the revamp of Blackburn shopping centre is now close to completion.

And discussions centre owner, Standard Life has been talking to traders about plans for the Lords Square area.

Standard Life is keen to improve the pedestrianised square, and investment in the area could be anything between £4 million and £14 million.

But the shock closure of the Xceptions store has forced Standard Life into a rethink.

Shopping centre manager Allan Caster said: "We are still not sure what the position with Xceptions is. "Obviously we do not want such a visible site to remain closed for too long and we are trying to find out what plans are."

He added: "As part of the second phase of the refurbishment Lords Square is due a major face-lift.

"We hope work on the second phase will start shortly.

"Plans have not been finalised and depending on what is decided we could be spending anything up to £14 million."

Standard Life will now look at letting the building off on a temporary basis and has already had several inquiries.

The firm is still waiting to hear if Xceptions plans to re-open the store.

The Oldham based company has also closed stores in Accrington, but a shop in Burnley trading under the name Mark One recently opened following a face-lift.

Xceptions has still not commented on the situation.

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