RETAILERS are already lining up to move into a Darlington shopping mall, according to developer St Martins.

Company representatives are in the final stages of negotiations to bring a major department store, possibly Debenhams, to anchor the £45m development.

Councillors, wanting to protect the existing shopping infrastructure, have insisted on a clause in the contract preventing the development poaching existing retailers. That way, every occupant of the 25-unit development will be new to the town.

Despite the fact that about seven units in the Cornmill Centre are empty and more than ten other town centre shops are up for sale or to let, St Martins' executive director Lindsey Robinson believes the complex will not stand empty.

He said: "We do not envisage filling it being a problem. There are a number of empty properties in the town, but they cannot give the sort of space that retailers want these days.

"What we are offering is what the retailers tell us they want, and there is a list of shops who have already expressed an interest."

According to Darlington Borough Council, the town has a relatively low rate of empty shops. Every town needs a small percentage of empty floorspace to ensure there can be some turnover of retailers in the town.

Mr Robinson said that St Martins was keen to attract new shops to the town rather than encouraging retailers to move.

He said: "There is not much point in shuffling around what is already here. We want to offer something different so Darlington can compete with other major shopping towns."

Among those to welcome news of the development was Jane Brown, chief executive of Darlington Partnership.

She said: "I think it is a great thing for the town, and will help with revitalising of the centre."

The carrot St Martins held out for its development was a marked increase in car parking - something Darlington is critically short of.

A multi-storey park will be built across the ring road and will be linked to the mall by a bridge. There will be more parking on top of the two-storey mall itself.

To combat the problem of the sloping land at Queen Street, the ground floor of the mall will cut into the existing road with escalators and lifts to link the curved mall to the car parks and Queen Street arcade, as well as the department store.

Retailers within the Queen Street arcade have all been informed of the plans.

Next, which had been looking to move into the former Dressers stationary shop in High Row, at the other end of the town centre, said the announcement had not changed its plans.

A spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the expansion but are still in discussions about Dressers.

"We are still looking for a larger store, but no decisions have yet been made."

Retail analysts will also be watching the impact such a major development has on the town's Binns department store. For so long the mainstay of the town's retail prosperity, the House of Fraser store now finds itself at the opposite end of the town centre to the new mall.

House of Fraser recently upgraded the store and declined to comment on yesterday's announcement.

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council, which is working in partnership with St Martins, said it hoped the mall would increase job opportunities and attract more people to the town.