A HUGE Hampshire shopping development designed to rival Southampton's WestQuay has been put on hold indefinitely.
The £500m Northern Quarter project in Portsmouth has been mothballed by developers because of the credit crunch.
Centros has told Portsmouth City Council it will not build the flagship shopping centre by 2011, meaning compulsory purchase orders will be out of date before work begins.
The firm will have to reapply for them after 2010.
But with one nearby shop owner taking the council to a judicial review over claims it acted unlawfully in issuing permission to bulldoze businesses in the first place, that process is likely to be hit by further delays.
The Northern Quarter plans were first unveiled in 2005, but by last year only three retailers - John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and New Look - had signed up.
It had originally been expected a development of 80 shops and restaurants would be built on the site, which used to house the Tricorn Centre - once dubbed the ugliest building in Britain.
Council leaders hoped the scheme would transform Portsmouth city centre and attract shoppers from Southampton, which retail analysts currently consider a far superior shopping destination.
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