Plans for a £200m retail-led development in the centre of Newport, South Wales, have been shelved after the developer behind the scheme was unable to secure the necessary funding.

A four-star hotel, a multiplex cinema and a new restaurant quarter were included in Modus Corovest's proposals for the Friars Walk scheme, as well as 450,000sq ft (41,806sq m) of retail space, a new bus station and 250 residential apartments.

Matthew Evans, NCC leader, said: "We have done all we can as a council to get this scheme to the stage where the developers had to come up with the funding and go on site. They have failed to do this and have now told us that because of the economic downturn they are currently not in a position to deliver the intended scheme. "Such is the importance of this project for Newport we are not prepared to accept a scaled down version and will therefore open up the scheme to other interested parties."