RUNDOWN Lord Square is to disappear as part of a £15million scheme to breathe new life into Blackburn town centre.

Shopping centre owners Reit Asset Management hope to end decades of neglect after submitting plans to Blackburn with Darwen Council.

The council-backed scheme will include five new large shop units, similar in size to the nearby TJ Hughes store, being used to "fill in" the existing square.

The plan, which the council expects to create 200 new jobs, also includes 14 other outlets.

Existing units such as the former Army and Navy store and Yates Wine Lodge will also be demolished and replaced with glass- and aluminium-cladded stores facing the Church Street pavilions.

A new entrance will be built in Ainsworth Street with a glass-covered Lord Square Mall linking the new stores to the existing shopping centre.

The existing zig-zag walkway and car park staircase will also be demolished and the landmark mother and child statue will be relocated in the town centre.

The plans mark a victory for the two-year Lancashire Evening Telegraph campaign, backed by shoppers and business leaders, calling for the eyesore site to be rejuvenated.

Reit, which bought the shopping centre for £100million in June this year, said it hoped to begin work before the end of the year and complete the project by spring 2006.

The scheme is set to be given the go-ahead at a council meeting in March and include the current square being replaced with three floors of new stores.

An application was submitted three months after London-based Reit signalled its intention to carry out the work and said several big name retailers had shown an interest in the plans.

The council said tenants already in Lord Square had been served notice to leave and many had already come to the end of their leases.

The announcement of the proposed redevelopment of the 39,482 sq m Lord Square centre comes after 30 years of neglect. Previous owners Edinburgh-based Standard Life drew up several schemes but none came to fruition, even though it carried out major redevelopment of most of the shopping centre in the mid-1990s.

It claimed return from rents did not justify the millions it needed to invest.

Martin Shepard, a partner at Reit, said: "This proposal is long overdue and the application has been submitted despite Reit only having acquired the scheme less than six months ago.

"We have a vast experience and understanding of the shopping centre market across the UK and believe this Lord Square proposal will finally see the development of Blackburn shopping centre completed.

"Working alongside Blackburn with Darwen Council we are aiming to rejuvenate the heart of the town, transforming it into a regional retail destination."

Council leader Sir Bill Taylor said: "The regeneration of Lord Square will form a major part of the town centre's transformation and is critical to the success of our new town centre strategy.

"The award-winning regeneration of Church Street and the Cathedral Quarter has played an important part in attracting this proposed new investment and we welcome this step forward."

Raymond Goldstone, president of the Blackburn and District Chamber of Trade, said: "We have always wanted Lord Square to be redeveloped and we think they must already have retailers in mind."