SMOULDERING floor tiles in the basement of the former Littlewoods store sparked off a red alert at Halton Lea.

The shopping centre was immediately evacuated at 8am on Saturday and remained closed until 3pm when smoke had been cleared from all the malls.

Contractors had been working during the night to prepare part of the store for new tenants What Everyone Wants, who hope to start trading mid September.

Halton Lea centre director Martyn Jones said: "It wasn't a fire. It was smouldering floor tiles.

"Contractors were taking up these tiles during the night and left them. They started to smoulder.

"The smoke was the main problem as it was a warm day with no movement. The fire brigade got large industrial fans to clear the area.

"With all the problems the centre has had in the past, we wanted to be 100 per cent. Air monitoring tests for asbestos particles proved totally clear. It took so long because we had to clear all the smoke before we could carry out these tests."

HALTON Lea and the adjacent Trident retail and leisure park are taking on a new lease of life, the World can reveal this week.

What Everyone Wants is opening a new retail outlet inside the middle part of the former Littlewoods store.

Poundstretcher is moving into the shopping centre and the discount chain Yes has already opened a new store.

Brand new public toilets, with special facilities for parents with babies and the disabled, are being created next to Fads.

Halton Council has provided £60,000 towards the facilities, which will be constantly manned, and open for Christmas.

Work on Runcorn's long-awaited cinema is to start again in four weeks.

The nine-screen development is expected to open at Easter next year.

As revealed exclusively in the World, Currys is taking a unit near food discount giant Aldi. Work on the shopfitting is imminent.

"

Confidence is coming back, the volume of people passing through Halton Lea has increased - Martyn Jones, centre director

.We will never get a Marks & Spencer. We've got to look at those people who want to come that match the profile form customer base. The retail park is going to be the nucleus base of what is happening.

"The entertainments side, with the cinema and eating, will make us a destination more in line with 24-hours, not just eight hours.

"We are in talks with a number of brand name retailers.

"When I came here 10 months ago, I said it was a challenge. It is rewarding to see it coming to fruition."

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