A SHOPPING centre on Teesside has enjoyed a record six months with more than 500,000 shoppers a month coming through its doors.

The Wellington Square Shopping Centre, in Stockton, opened in 2001, has seen a 20 to 30 per cent increase in the number of shoppers for some months.

Owners the Wellington Square Shopping Centre Development Company say the opening of more stores and longer opening hours has led to the increase. New shops include All Sports and Superdrug and the centre is now almost 90 per cent let.

Rob Gildersleeve, centre manager at Wellington Square, said: "I believe the centre has revitalised Stockton's town centre."

There was criticism when Wellington Square opened that shoppers would merely abandon the Castlegate Centre for the new centre.

A recent study commissioned by Stockton Borough Council concluded that the two shopping centres effectively meant the town had two centres. Following the study, Jim Chapman, a leading member of urban design agency EDAW, said the High Street between Wellington Square and the Castlegate had been reduced to a "huge bus stop."

EDAW recommended revitalising the High Street to reconnect the two shopping centres and reconnect the town centre to the riverside.

Ways included removing part of the Castlegate Centre and Swallow Hotel, and developing caf, restaurant and leisure outlets in the town.