WORK to rebuild the tired St John?s Shopping Centre in Liverpool has been delayed for three years.

Owner Land Securities has been planning the ?100m overhaul of the city centre complex for some time and won planning permission last June.

But the recession has crippled British retail and the company has now had to delay the start of the work, which includes the building of a new market hall.



Land Securities insists it is still committed to the project and expects demand from retailers will be back to pre-recesion levels by 2012 ? the year it had originally planned to finish the work.

Nick Davis, retail development director for Land Securities, said: ?St John?s has always been a popular centre but we recognised it was in need of modernisation.

?We consulted with stakeholders as to what improvements they wanted to see before submitting our plans to the city council last year.

?We received detailed planning consent in June and we will now be undertaking important preparation ahead of a possible start on site in 2012.

?We would have been targeting a slightly earlier start but the economic downturn has been more severe than we expected. continues...

Further Information on Yo!

Redevelopment 1: St. John's Market!

Redevelopment 2: St Johns Shopping Area