TOWN centre bosses in County Durham have reacted with dismay to news that the final go-ahead has been given for a huge extension to the Gateshead MetroCentre.

Councils representing Durham, Consett, Stanley and Chester-le-Street all objected to the plans on the grounds that they could have a disastrous effect on local trade.

Environment Secretary John Prescott has approved plans for a 1,100-place multi-storey car park, a Debenhams store and 27 other shops.

MetroCentre owner, Capital Shopping Centres (CSC), says the development will create around 1,000 jobs, but Alex Watson, Derwentside District Council leader, was angered.

He said: "The MetroCentre has already had a crippling effect. Shoppers have already chosen to go there and this extension, which is massive, will only make it worse.

"I don't understand how John Prescott can approve this car park, which goes against everything he has said about public transport.

"They say it will create 1,000 jobs but these are going to come from the town centres and villages of Derwentside. They are not new jobs, they are jobs which will have been lost here."

The £50m extension is conditional on improvements to the public transport system, but CSC says it will improve the railway station and set up a bus link to the centre of Gateshead.

Chester-le-Street, which has always been a commuter town, may not suffer as much as Stanley and Consett, but the leader of its district council, Malcolm Pratt, still hit out at the proposals.

He said: "We are surprised and disappointed the Government has supported this development. This will not help Chester-le-Street, but we are a market town and I am sure that we can sustain and build on our current retailing base.

"We are putting in a huge effort into regenerating the town centre and I am confident that when these improvements are carried out people will want to continue shopping here."

Alan Simpson, principal planner at Durham City Council, said: "We expressed our concern at the original planning application in terms of its wider impact on Durham City and we stand by that."

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