PLANS for a multi-million pound shopping complex for Burnley are still not complete just weeks before the proposals are due to go before councillors.

The plans for the £55million Oval development are expected to go before councillors in August, but the design for the multi-storey car park and flood plans are incomplete and comments from the highway authority have still not been received.

The scheme on the former Pioneer supermarket site was initially pencilled in to be discussed by Burnley Council's development control committee on July 27.

However the application will now go before the committee on August 24 to allow more time to resolve the outstanding issues.

Councillor Martin Smith, the executive member with responsibility for the town centre, said: "This is one of the most important schemes that Burnley has ever seen.

"Putting back the outline application to August will give extra time to make sure all the details are available to councillors when it comes to making a decision."

However Chamber of Trade president Paula Riley said there were still major concerns over traffic around the site.

She said: "We want the store, but at what price? Are the streets going to be so congested that people stand in a traffic jam and then just go home?"

It is hoped that the plans will be given the green-light to ensure building work starts next summer and completed the following autumn.

Final stage negotiations are now under way with a leading department store, believed to be Debenhams, which would act as the anchor' store for the 250,000sq ft complex.

Other high street names rumoured to be interested in securing a slot in the development by Manchester-based Henry Boot, include Gap, Next, and H&M.

The Oval' will include a flagship department store, 32 two-storey shop units, space for restaurants and bars, and an oval public space to replace the town's Peace Gardens, featuring an outdoor cinema screen.

It has been hailed by town centre bosses as Burnley's biggest-ever development.

The project would create around 400 jobs and would increase the town centre's retail space by over half, town centre chiefs say.

Seven stores in Curzon Street also face being knocked down to make room for the centre on the former Pioneer Co-op site, along with the former county court building.

The red-brick building has been empty since the court moved to the Burnley Crown Court complex, in Hammerton Street, more than 10 years ago.