A SHOCK decision by retail giant John Lewis to abandon plans to open in the centre of Brighton has been slammed by city leaders.

The company said yesterday it was “disappointed” not to be progressing with plans unveiled last September to open in North Street.

But city council leader Warren Morgan questioned whether the firm was sharing the whole story publicly while Conservative group leader Geoffrey Theobald said he was shocked and disappointed.

The retail partnership bought the freehold of the building in North Street, which currently houses a branch of Boots, in March 2015.

And last September it held an open consultation, teasing prospective customers with an image of the blue-and-green-glass shopfront vision for what the coming John Lewis department store would look like.

But it has now decided not to pursue its plan.

Its statement said: “We acquired the site positive that we could build a John Lewis shop but having explored all options we cannot deliver a shop on this site with the extent of demolition and rebuilding required.”

Councillor Morgan said: “I’m disappointed they have not engaged with us beforehand and not given us any opportunity to discuss concerns.

“The council would have been open to discussing other possible locations with the firm but we were not approached.

“They are citing concerns over the site but they haven’t changed since they bought the freehold.

“The site is the site. So you can draw your own conclusions from that.”

Cllr Theobald, outgoing leader of the city Conservative group, said: “I find this extremely disappointing. When John Lewis came to see me years ago they were very excited about this site – we agreed it was a great site.

“I’ll certainly be asking questions of officers as to how this happened but you can’t blame anyone until you know all the facts.”

Councillor Joe Miller said: “It’s a shame for the whole city.

“Maybe they’d reconsider if the public asked – if enough of the public said ‘please come’.

“Maybe we should start a campaign, Bring John Lewis to Brighton and Hove’.”

It is understood that the council only learned of John Lewis’s decision yesterday morning and that it is not linked to any specific stumbling blocks encountered in the pre- planning process.

An official Brighton and Hove City Council statement said: “The council fully supported the proposals for a new store which would have been a fantastic addition to our city centre and our work with John Lewis on the initial scheme has been recognised by the company as positive.

“We will continue to take forward our regeneration programme for the city centre which will build on current investment and support from the retail industry and which proposes the expansion of Churchill Square as part of the waterfront redevelopment.

“And, of course, there’s the new Ikea coming soon in the city region and the work on the new Hanningtons Lane which is returning the area to its former glory, revealing the historic Pugets Cottage and opening up a new lane which will add to our unique retail offer to visitors and residents alike.”

The council said the city remained open for business.

In January, John Lewis pulled out of a planned development in Worcester and last year it warned a proposed Cheltenham branch could face extremely long delays.

A spokesman for John Lewis explained: “When the building came up for sale, we took the opportunity to purchase it as we had a long held ambition to have a store in Brighton.

“Unfortunately, however, after looking into all the detail over the past year, we have explored all options but we cannot deliver a shop on this site with the extent of demolition and construction required.”

Recent online growth has outstripped in-store sales according to the retail giant’s publicly disclosed figures.