FEARS have been raised about the future of a Teesside shopping centre after several

businesses moved out of the the area.

Now, the owner of the Orchard Parade centre at Eaglescliffe has issued a call to Stockton Borough Council to hold talks about the future of the site.

Mowden Park Estate made the plea after confirming that major development plans for the area had been abandoned.

The company applied to Stockton Borough Council in 2000 to demolish a nearby library to accommodate a supermarket chain.

Under the proposal, the library would have been moved to Orchard Parade.

However, the idea was strongly opposed by residents and councillors at the time.

But The Northern Echo can reveal that Mowden Park Estate has decided to abandon the plan.

Meanwhile three shops, including an off-licence, butchers and mini-market, have left the shopping parade.

Helen Rennison, clerk at Egglescliffe Village Parish Council, which incorporates neighbouring suburb Eaglescliffe in its boundaries, said the authority was monitoring the situation at Orchard Parade.

She said: "We are going to contact the owners ourselves and are obviously concerned about the loss of our shopping facilities. It is a serious issue for the village."

A spokesman for Mowden Park Estate said: "Since that planning application was put in, there have been a lot of changes around the area, which has affected the commercial usage of this shopping parade.

"The planning permission at the time would have required the use of council land and the proposals were strongly opposed by local councillors and residents.

"We are keen to carry out work to improve this particular site and would be happy to discuss alternative ways forward with the council.

"Since most of the leases at the shopping parade began at the same time, inevitably they end at the same time, and we are in negotiation with several companies to rent the empty shops and expect in the next couple of months to see people moving in.

"One of the companies who no longer occupy a unit was a national chain which has gone into receivership."

A Stockton Borough Council spokesman said the application to build supermarket space had never been withdrawn by Mowden Park Estate.

He said the council would contact the company.