A MAJOR shopping development opposite Westfield's Broadway centre could be finished by October, its agent has said.

The lower floors of Arndale House are being redeveloped and rebranded as The Xchange, a modern shopping and restaurant complex designed to complement the under-construction Broadway shopping centre.

The company behind the project is London-based Augur Investments, which also owns the Rawson Quarter in Bradford city centre.

Agent Ryan Kennedy, of Jones Lang LaSalle, said he was not yet able to say which firms were interested in opening up in the new-look units, but that four firms were in talks about opening shops or restaurants.

He said they hoped to have the units ready for tenants to move into by October or November, "to allow trade for Christmas, because these guys have to get in and fit out first".

It means it will coincide with the opening of the new Broadway shopping centre, where shops are expected to start trading this autumn to take advantage of the busy Christmas shopping period.

The outside of the Xchange building, which sits between Charles Street, Broadway and Market Street, will be given a new look, with a two-storey glass frontage.

Bradford Council planners have now approved minor amendments to the scheme, which will see ten units created on the first two floors of the prominent high-rise building.

Mr Kennedy said: "They are just minor internal alterations to the planning consent we received last year. It is just some internal layout rearrangements."

Meanwhile, Westfield has also asked for permission to make a minor amendment to its plans for the multi-million pound shopping centre.

The plans would make the second floor of the flagship Debenhams store slightly larger. A decision is due by February 5.

And work is continuing to improve the outside pedestrian area along Broadway itself - which will be one of the main gateways to both the Broadway shopping centre and the Xchange complex.

Developer Westfield and its contractor are undertaking the £4.1 million of work on behalf of Bradford Council as part of an agreement signed just over a year ago.