A £35 million regeneration scheme is due to go ahead in Liverpool, it has been announced.

The project on Lime Street will now get underway after the High Court rejected a bid by SAVE Britain's Heritage to overturn planning permission.

The scheme involves redevelopment for mixed-use including commercial, retail and leisure uses with hotel and student accommodation.

In addition, a proposed entertainment and media hub in the former ABC Cinema will be restored.

The project is being led by Neptune Developments.

It is understood the group made an substantive application for a Judicial Review after claiming the city council had failed to notify the DCMS (Department for Culture Media and Sport) and UNESCO's World Heritage Committee on its plans, therefore breaching planning guidance.

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However, Judge Patterson rejected the claim because Historic England were consulted over the project and did not raise any objections, nor request the scheme be called in for scrutiny.

Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said: "This legal move, which I believe was based on spurious grounds, was an attempt by outside interest groups to delay much-needed regeneration, and fortunately the High Court has seen right through it.

"We want to get on with allowing the developers to invest in their vision and bring Lime Street up to a much higher standard than it has been for decades and one that is fitting for a major entry point into the city centre.

"I look forward to us now being able to crack on with the much needed transformation of this area of the city centre which will no doubt act as a catalyst for further investment and development in the area."

However, it was not deemed possible to save the facade of the former Futurist cinema, after two surveyors' reports concluded that its condition was so poor there was no way it could be salvaged.

Steve Parry, MD of Neptune Developments, added: "We are pleased that the High Court has ratified the local planning decision and found that it was made in an entirely appropriate and thorough way.

"Lime Street urgently needs this project to happen. There has already been a cost associated with a delay that has impacted on the project's financial viability. On a positive note we have exchanged with a major fund before Christmas and can now hopefully get on with early demolition and delivery of a new vision for Lime Street."

(LM)