WEST Heath Shopping Centre in Congleton has been put up for sale only 12 months after being bought by its current owners.

MWB, the centre's London-based owners, say the decision to sell the centre was taken for 'commercial and financial' reasons.

MWB was originally aiming to redevelop the centre, which has five empty units, including a hairdressers which closed recently.

James Ponsford, assistant asset manager for MWB, said the centre did not 'fit' geographically or commercially within the company's current holdings.

"While it's recognised there is an opportunity to redevelop the site it's not in a location which is convenient for us to control from London," he said.

"While there's no fixed period for the sale if there's no interest in the centre in two to three months the sale is unlikely to be successful."

Centre butcher Steve Parry was very disappointed by the decision to sell the site.

"The centre's potential is unbelievable because of the amount of housing in the surrounding area," he said.

"West Heath has more people than Holmes Chapel, and 140 new houses are being built.

"There's a lot of interest in the units, but people want to know what's happening with the Tesco scheme before they decide what to do."