A CRUCIAL public inquiry starts tomorrow, Tuesday into two developments set to change the town centre forever.

The three-week inquiry is into two separate plans for Time Square, the neglected set of shops and unused land by the market, and for an area bounded by Winwick Street, Tanners Lane, Dallam Lane and railway line.

Twelve days of evidence will be heard in February and March at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Both plans have already won planning permission from the borough council but the Government decided an inquiry was necessary.

Time Square would bring 264 apartments, restaurants, cafes, bars, 419 parking spaces, a new bridge link to the market, and new entrances for the market.

The Winwick Street plan would bring more than 600 properties, a cinema, health centre and hotel, to waste ground opposite Central Train Station - creating up to 1,000 jobs.

The inquiry will be heard from Tuesday, February 27 to Friday, March 2; from Tuesday, March 6 to Friday, March 9 and from Tuesday, March 13 to Friday, March 16, at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.