The developer had proposed 427,000 sq ft of retail and catering space anchored by a 97,500-sq ft Debenhams store along with an 800-space car park, up to 179 residential units and upgraded facilities for two local theatres and the city’s musicians’ co-operative.

Lancaster’s planning committee voted in favour of the development by a majority of 15 to 4, and its referral to the GONW was seen as a routine matter. However English Heritage then launched a high-profile media campaign to save a group of unlisted buildings that occupy part of the site, which culminated in demonstrators travelling to London to stage a protest at Centros’s head office.

Centros associate director David Lewis said: “We are extremely disappointed about GONW’s decision. The high cost of a public inquiry and the delay it will cause puts at risk the whole regeneration of Lancaster’s city centre.

Centros' proposal for the Canal Corridor North site

“Such a decision in the current economic climate is difficult to comprehend. What it says is that both English Heritage and the government feel that retaining a few poor-quality, un-listed and unloved buildings in a conservation area is more beneficial to Lancaster than all the benefits [of the scheme]”.

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