Stockton's Castlegate centre to close fully amid demolition

From Monday, shoppers will no longer be able to enter Stockton's Castlegate Shopping Centre

A shopping centre being demolished to make way for a riverside park is to close permanently next week.

The second phase of work at Stockton's Castlegate Shopping Centre is due to begin on Monday.

It will see a number of remaining units and the Swallow Hotel knocked down.

There will be no access to the mall or Spencer Market Hall although B&M and Barclays will be open to customers from entrances on High Street, the council said.

The centre's rooftop car park will also be shut from Monday.

The first stage of the scheme, which saw the demolition of the southern end of the 1970s building and its multi-storey car park, is almost complete.

'Important milestone'

Councillor Nigel Cooke, cabinet member for housing and regeneration, said next week's closure represented "an important milestone in both the town's history and its redevelopment".

"The demolition is in its early stages, but you can already see the striking impact that removing these buildings will have on the town and how wonderful it will be once High Street is fully opened up to the river."

The park is intended to "open up the town" and provide a welcoming link to the River Tees

A number of Castlegate tenants have relocated to the nearby Wellington Square development.

Demolition work is expected to be completed next summer with the development of the park beginning shortly after.

In all, half of the town centre is set to be bulldozed to make way for the park, which is said to be three times the size of London's Trafalgar Square.

The council said it would "open up the town" and lessen the blight of closed shops.