Developers Westfield submitted a new proposal after a procedural problem forced the postponement of the public inquiry into the controversial scheme, which was due to start at the end of this month.

A court will now be asked to decide whether that application is deemed to be 'live', but if not the new application will replace it.

This week it was declared an Article 31 application, meaning it considered to be a major planning application. The Planning Service will now advertise the application in the local press and in the meantime will be pressing ahead with the processing of their report.

It is understood the Planning Service is aiming to have those reports ready to send to the Planning Appeals Commission by the middle of December in the hope of minimising any delay in pressing ahead with the public inquiry.

Whilst the duplicate application is being fast-tracked, both the Planning Service and Westfield are hoping the courts will quickly rule on whether or not the original application can be considered as still live and the process can continue unhindered.