NO big-name shops will be allowed on a prime city centre site which has stood derelict for the past three years.

The land, off Waterloo Road, Hanley, was bought by investment firm Lear Management Ltd and was cleared in 2006 to make way for a £60 million retail and leisure complex.

Those plans included a 122-bed hotel and casino, as well as 500 parking spaces and more than 300,000 square feet of restaurants, cafes and large retail outlets creating up to 600 new jobs.

Lear applied for full planning permission in August 2008.

But before planners could reach a decision on the proposals, the bank which was backing the scheme pulled the plug, plunging Lear Management into insolvency and handing the site to the official receivers.

One year on from the firm's collapse, regeneration leaders admit they are still no clearer about what will happen to the site, which occupies a strategic gateway to the city centre.

But they have said that, even if a buyer comes forward, the plans would not be allowed to go through in their original form for fear of undermining the regeneration of Hanley.

Councillor Brian Ward, pictured, cabinet member for regeneration, said: "We are only going to get one chance to redevelop the city centre and we have to get it right.

"The last thing we need is another Festival Park just outside the city centre when we are trying to entice big names to come and locate inside the city centre."

He added: "I think that site would need a very different retail mixture because we don't want to duplicate what is already here."

Renew North Staffordshire director Hardial Bhogal said the council would use planning powers to influence any future development of the Lear site.

He said: "Unfortunately that site is not in our ownership, which is a problem because it means that we cannot move it on.

"If someone else takes it over then we will ask them to bring forward something which will conform with and protect the aims we have for the city centre."

City Centre Partnership spokesman Richard Day said he is concerned that such a prominent site may remain undeveloped for years to come.

But he agrees that it is more important to protect the strategic plans to revitalise the city centre.

He said: "I haven't heard of anything happening to that site for a long time, and I believe it is still in the hands of the receivers.

"The bank is not likely to want to sell it off now at a knock-down price, and developers are unwilling to commit themselves to buying large sites in the current climate.

"But the recession seems to have concentrated people's minds to look at what should be put on sites, rather than simply maximising profit."

He added: "It is very encouraging that the regeneration team at the city council is looking at that site and thinking very seriously about what should go there."