Developers wanting a £15 million shopping complex at Cannon Mills have won the backing of councillors by just one vote - because of concerns about streets being swamped with traffic.

Millionaire businessman Sharif Tariq, who bought the Cannon Mills Shopping Village, wants to develop a major retail complex with a one-stop wedding centre in the rundown site which currently has a big Sunday market.

But Councillor Syd Collard (Lab, Great Horton) said he had lived in the area for 70 years and Sundays were currently "horrendous" on Great Horton Road and surrounding streets.

He said: "I am not prepared to vote in favour. These people have suffered year in and year out from traffic. The ideal thing would be to demolish the entire property and use it for housing."

Councillor Allan Hillary (Lib Dem, Bolton) opposed the scheme because he said it was developing a district shopping centre, which was against Government guidelines. "They say we shouldn't have district centres but should protect the city."

But Councillor Imran Khan (Lab, University) said he was in favour and it was an ideal opportunity for jobs, investment and improving an unsightly area.

He added: "An applicant is tying up his personal assets in it."

Chairman, Councillor Clive Richardson said he understood Coun Collard's concern. But he said he hoped the quality of shopping would improve and he believed the surfaced car parks would be used by customers.

The Area Planning Panel agreed by four votes to three to support the application for the centre.

It will now go to the Council's regulatory panel, which will make a decision based on the Area Panel's findings. A final decision will be made by John Prescott, Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions because of the listed buildings and scale of the scheme.

Yesterday's application was amended to delete a cinema after a larger scheme was turned down by the panel last month. The panel rejected the original plans because they contained a cinema.

Mr Tarif said: "I believe our proposals will make a worthwhile contribution to the implementation of one of the major community priority areas."

He said work would be carried out in phases if the scheme received planning consent and existing users would function as far as possible during the construction.