Plans for a multi-million pound development that looks set to bring more shops and car parking to Chorley town centre have been approved by councillors.

Market Walk phase two was passed by Chorley Council’s development control committee and is expected to create shops and a multi-story car park – the first in Chorley.

The decision comes just months after plans for a state-of-the-art new store for Asda were approved for the southern end of the town centre which will create 400 new jobs and more than 400 car parking spaces.

The application to extend Market Walk has been made by RREEF the property fund arm of Deutsche Bank. A previous scheme was abandoned in 2008 before a planning application was submitted.

But now RREEF hopes to build retail units including a larger anchor store that will attract big names to the town with a multi-storey car park on top.

It would mean that whilst the Flat Iron car park would lose 200 of its 325 parking spaces to the development, 481 spaces would instead be created within the five storey building.

Councillor Peter Goldsworthy, Chorley Council leader welcomed the news and said: “It is great news for Chorley that a second major developer wants to build in the town.

“It shows that there is great confidence in the town’s economic future and these two shopping developments with extra car parking can only help attract even more shoppers, visitors and other businesses into the town centre.

“I appreciate that the Market Walk phase two plans are still in their very early stages and any detailed plans have yet to be considered by the council, but the principle of building an extension to the existing shopping centre has now been established.“That means that with major shopping developments planned at either end of the town centre it should create a whole host of opportunities to regenerate the area between.”