AN urgent action plan has been drawn up by a North-East council, determined to ensure a multi-million pound shopping centre is built.

Doubts hung over the future of the £90m Commercial Street scheme in Darlington after developer St Martin's Property Group withdrew from the project last month.

The company, which owns the Queen Street shopping arcade, said it was putting the 6.42-acre site up for sale because it wanted to concentrate on developments in London.

Council leaders feared the land could be sold to a company not interested in developing it for shopping, thereby scuppering a long-term strategy to transform Darlington town centre.

Now the authority has devised a plan which would see it market its own neighbouring land for sale and use its powers of compulsory purchase to ensure the complex is built.

John Buxton, the council's director of development and environment, said there was a danger that a company could buy the land owned by St Martin's to hold as an investment.

"St Martin's have made the decision to pull out of Darlington, thereby their only interest is to achieve the best price for the sale of their property," he said.

"The council's objective is to see a quality and quantitative improvement in the choice of shopping for Darlington, while receiving an appropriate return for its land."

He is recommending that council car park land in Commercial Street and Kendrew Street be urgently marketed for sale, allowing the authority to pick a developer with shopping centre experience.

He believes the complex could still be built without the land owned by St Martin's, by joining the development to Northgate further north than Queen Street.

"It is necessary for the council to gain more control of the situation," said Mr Buxton.

"The marketing should make clear that the development would not necessarily need to include St Martin's property, although of course this remains highly desirable."

Potential buyers would be told that the council was prepared to use its compulsory purchasing powers to get the development built quickly, including buying the St Martin's land.

Cabinet members are expected to approve the plan tomorrow.

No one from St Martin's was available for comment.