One of Europe's biggest shopping complexes - the Gateshead MetroCentre - could change hands in a £2bn deal, it emerged last night.

The British Land property group has put forward a proposal to Liberty international and its 74 per cent own subsidiary, Capital Shopping Centres (CSC), which owns the North-East complex.

CSC bought a 90 per cent stake in the MetroCentre for £324m in November 1995. Until then, it was the jewel in the Church Commissioner's property crown.

Since then, it has proposed a massive expansion that will add a new Debenhams store and 27 smaller units on the site of the former Asda supermarket.

But its request to build a 1,650-space multi-storey car park was turned down by Environment Secretary John Prescott earlier this year.

The MetroCentre, with 350 shops under one roof and employing between 5,000 and 6,000 people, is Britain's most profitable retail site.

According to reports at the weekend, British Land has already hired Lazard Brothers, the investment bankers, to work on the deal.

But last night, it appeared the company may face competition from a rival bidder.

Land Securities, Britain's biggest property company, has also made an approach to Liberty International.

Liberty's chairman, Donald Gordon, is likely to view the British Land bid as his favoured option because it would entail a merger rather than wholesale take-over.

He has spent the last 12 months trying to engineer a way of integrating CSC into Liberty International, but his plans have been blocked by CSC's independent directors.

The latest moves should see Mr Gordon redouble his efforts.