BURNLEY’S new £40million shopping centre will go ahead after Primark and Next signed up to take its two key units.

Work on the long-awaited Curzon Street ‘Oval’ development is now scheduled to start next year, ready to open in the Autumn of 2013.

The high street giants have agreed to take the centre’s two ‘anchor’ units, with retailers filling 10 other new stores.

It comes after two years of tense negotiations with developers and fears over the future of the project because of the recession.

Yesterday’s announcement was hailed by council and business leaders, who said it would boost Burnley’s ailing town centre.

But an opposition councillor warned that bosses may have ‘missed the boat’ by breaking ground three years after the shopping centre was originally planned to have opened.

The deals with Primark and Next will see the two retailers occupy the largest units in the 170,000sq ft development.

Primark will move into a 50,000sq ft store, the same size as Blackburn’s new store which opened last month.

And Next will take a 20,000sq ft unit, replacing its existing town centre store. The other units will be of varying size.

Council leader Charlie Briggs said: “This is great news.

“This new shopping centre is going to happen. It’s going to bring new jobs and it’s going to bring new shops.

"The fact that major national companies, such as Primark and Next, have signed up to this development is a massive vote of confidence in Burnley’s future as a vibrant and varied shopping centre.”

He stressed that existing retailers would be moved away from Curzon Street to make way ‘by agreement’ with the council.

Adam Brady, of Manchester-based developer Henry Boot, which will build the Oval, said: “Securing Primark and Next gives real momentum to this important scheme which will add greatly to the town’s vitality.”

The announcement was welcomed by Burnley Chamber of Trade president Brian Hobbs, who said the ‘net effect’ on the town would be positive.

He said the development was needed as nearby Blackburn and Bury have both unveiled new shopping centres in recent months.

“Admittedly some businesses may struggle with the new shopping centre, but we have got to be careful not to be left behind,” he said.

“We have got to see it as an opportunity and it will certainly bring more people into the town centre.”

MP Gordon Birtwistle said: “This will bring a big jobs boost for the town, not just in the stores when they open, but also when the planned construction commences in 2011.

“This shows what a difference it makes when there is real leadership and real vision to move things forward in the most difficult times.”

But Kay Donohoe, of Waterlife and Pets, in Curzon Street, said she was not entirely convinced the development would progress after previous hold-ups.

Debenhams pulling out of the scheme led to substantial delays, and scaled-back proposals were later drafted.

She said: “We have been to the altar three times before with this and when I see the first store opened I will believe it.

“Every time this happens I see new pictures and the quality of it seems to have gone down. The last ones looked like a tin shed.”

Mrs Donohoe also called on the developers and council to liaise with traders amid concerns over potential loading arrangements for the new shopping centre, and traffic flow, while any construction takes place.

And Burnley Council Labour group leader Julie Cooper said she was still sceptical over whether developers would deliver the Oval.

She said: “I have lost track of how long this has been going on for.

"Originally we were told the Oval would be open in 2008, and it is now 2010.

"I am desperate to see new shops and new developments in Burnley, but I am just concerned that we have missed the boat.”

Yesterday Primark was unavailable for comment and Next declined to comment.