PLANS for the re-birth of Colne's Shackleton Hall are set to be delayed by three years after Pendle Council said it could not afford to help fund the project.

Downs Court Properties wants to transform the decaying Church Street building into apartments and boutique-style shops as part of a £1.2m scheme.

The Altrincham-based developer said it wanted the council to pump in £250,000 to help get the redevelopment off the ground.

But now, after the authority said it did not have the money, Mohammed Tahir, director of Downs Court, said the plans, which would have taken between 12 and 18 months to complete, could not be finished until 2010.

He said: "We would like the council to help out with funding and would like £250,000 but the council is saying it cannot give us any money. This is the reason why this project has never taken off because they are not prepared to help out.

"Everyday it is left it is slowing our progress. If we don't get any money we will struggle on, but where it would take 12 to 18 months to complete it could take up to 48 months."

Mr Tahir said his firm was awaiting feedback from the council after it submitted plans to build 14 apartments and up to 10 shops.

A meeting is planned next month between the two to discuss the scheme and funding.

Numerous plans to breathe new life into the Grade-II listed building have collapsed. Earlier this year North West Corporate Estates decided to sell the hall for £590,000, just three months after buying the site for £540,000.

It blamed Pendle Council for serving a listed building repairs notice demanding work on the eyesore was carried out for the reason the company pulled out of a scheme to create shops and apartments.

Brian Cookson, Pendle Council's executive director for regeneration, said the authority could help with funding for schemes such as shop front improvements, but that money would only come to a few thousand pounds.

He said: "We would try to be as supportive as we can but it is not realistic to expect a huge sum of public money to be put into this property.

"It is possible we can find small amounts of money to help them here and there but there is no way the council would put in £250,000 into a project like this, we do not have the resources.

"We are happy to discuss the issue with them."