Work on Westfield and Hammerson's long-awaited £1bn shopping centre in Croydon town centre has been delayed until next year.

The retail giants had expected to begin later this year, but have now pushed the start of work back to 2017 - the year the redevelopment was originally planned to open.

Hammerson said this morning: "Given the extended planning process and discussions with a number of potential anchor tenants, the scheme timetable has been revised."

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"Works are now expected to start in 2017 with potential completion in 2020/21."

When the redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre was first announced, it was hoped the project would be completed by winter 2017.

Asked for his reaction to today's announcement, Croydon Council leader Tony Newman said: "We're in a planning process. It's clearly a technical issue. We needed to crack on as quickly as possible, but we need to make sure everything lines up.

"I'm not sure they're saying anything that's not already been said. The main message from me is they absolutely need to crack on with the scheme. We're bending over backwards to make that happen but we need to make sure that with the legal processes we get that right."

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Last September the Goverrnment granted Croydon Council a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for the Whitgift Centre, paving the way for redevelopment despite objections from leaseholders.

Coun Newman said it had previously been agreed that current leaseholders at the Whitgift would be able to trade until Christmas this year.

This morning Hammerson announced pre-tax profits of £730m for 2015, up 4 per cent on the previous year.

Carolyn Kenney, a project director at Hammerson speaking on behalf of the Croydon Partnership, which represents Westfield and Hammerson's interests in the project, said: "We have made a significant investment into our project in Croydon and remain committed to a start on site as soon as practicably possible, which we have long maintained will be in 2017. 

"We expect to have completed the final designs and land assembly by the end of the current year, with a targeted opening in 2020.

"Considerable progress was made in 2015 to advance the scheme, with the conclusion of the CPO Inquiry and the decision from the Secretary of State to allow the Council powers to purchase the land required to deliver the project. 

"We also acquired the 50 per cent long leasehold interest in the Whitgift centre, and took operational control.

"We are already preparing for improvements to Centrale, which will include the relocation of a number of retailers from the Whitgift centre."

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