The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will be visiting the new £1bn Liverpool One complex today.

The development, 42 acres from the River Mersey, boasts hotels, residential properties, shops and landscaping.

At the new complex the Duke will perform a "topping-out" ceremony, which will be officially opened to the public next Thursday.

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In September, a further 600,000 sq ft of shops, restaurants, cafés, bars and over 600 flats, offices and a nursery will be complete, followed by a Hilton Hotel and Novotel in early 2009.

The entire Grosvenor project, from inception to completion, will have taken just nine years.

The Queens visit to Liverpool is to mark the city's Capital of Culture year.

(CD/JM)