A HUGE part of the £65 million Clifton Moor shopping centre will soon be up for sale.

Slough Estates, which with Tesco owns the 175,000 sq ft of retail space through a joint venture company called Shopping Centre Ltd (SCL), plans to offload its share some time next year.

The area affected extends from Tesco to Wickes DIY store, taking in the former Northern Electric showrooms, Allders, Pets-at-Home Ltd, Travelcare, Rosebys, Boots Opticians and Burger King.

Ian Coull, chief executive of Slough Estates said his company was disposing of its shopping centres so that it could concentrate on its main portfolio of industrial property.

Last week, Slough Estates announced details of a huge property swap with Land Securities, owner of York's Coppergate Centre, which was seeking to acquire more retail centres and offload its industrial sites.

Because of Slough Estates' equal shares with Tesco in the joint venture company, Clifton Moor was left out of the deal but, disclosed Mr Coull, it would now be sold along with Slough Estates' shops at Surrey Quays.

Mr Coull said: "We have not yet entered negotiations with Tesco, with whom we have had joint venture partnership since 1991.

"We own 50 per cent of SCL and it might be that we just sell our shares in the company to Tesco or to a third party."

In the 13 years of joint ownership, more than £40 million had been spent maintaining the shopping centre. "Retail estates need continual upgrading of car parks, landscaping etc to keep them attractive to shoppers. Clifton Moor is worth about £65 million at latest valuation," said Mr Coull.

Updated: 12:11 Monday, November 22, 2004