A decision on whether to hold a public inquiry into a major £700m scheme in Preston has been put on hold, after the government said it needed more time to reach a verdict.

Earlier this summer, Preston City Council (PCC) had been minded to approve the Tithebarn project, but was forced to refer the proposals to the government due to the scale and nature of the plans. A new cinema, cafés, bars and a new bus station are included as part of the project, which will form part of a wider retail-led development led by a joint venture comprising property companies Lend Lease and Grosvenor.

However, the government has now informed the council that it needed more time to determine whether the planning application would have to face public scrutiny, although no date has currently been set. In a statement, PCC's group leaders - Ken Hudson (Conservative), Danny Gallagher (Liberal Democrats) and John Collins (Labour), said: "We submitted a very large amount of detailed evidence in support of the Tithebarn development and it will take time to fully consider this.

"We are convinced that given this strong evidence in support of Tithebarn that there is no need to hold a costly and unnecessary public inquiry and hope that by taking their time, the Government will agree with this and allow Tithebarn to proceed unhindered."