A shopping centre in Newton Mearns is set to build a £60million extension.

A shopping centre in Newton Mearns is set to build a £60million extension.

A planning application has been lodged with East Renfrewshire Council to increase the size of The Avenue by more than half.

The centre, which opened in the early 1970s, currently has 44 stores including Marks & Spencer, Asda and Next.

If the expansion plan gets the go-ahead it will result in an extra 146,000sq ft to accommodate 12 new stores, together with a four-storey car park and 24 flats.

A council spokesman said if the plans got the go-ahead, the current M&S would be bulldozed to make way for the new stores, while the car park would be built on the site of the former Mearns primary.

That has angered campaigners, including Mearns' residents' association secretary George Butler, who fought to save the school site for community use before it was demolished in 2004.

A spokesman for BTWShiells, the Belfast-based managing agent for the centre, said: "The Avenue is currently fully let and trades as a very successful shopping centre.

"This expansion will further improve the current retail offerings and strengthen and consolidate The Avenue as a major contributor to the heart of the community in the face of competition from other centres."

The massive Silverburn centre at Pollok, which also recently unveiled expansion plans, is only a few miles away.

The Avenue centre manager BJ Hopkins said: "The Avenue is widely regarded as the hub of the community and we have identified a clear requirement to improve the quality of the shopping experience available to the area's rapidly growing population."

The council spokesman added: "We will consider the planning application as usual but we think the shopping centre is very important for Newton Mearns.

"We recognise this expansion is needed and the centre needs improved car parking to compete with other centres.

"One of the big problems we have in East Renfrewshire is keeping local shops viable so this could bolster local shopping."

Campaigners twice tried to save the old Mearns primary site from the bulldozers in the hope it would be converted for community use.

Around 800 Save Our School protesters objected, with 300 of them staging a rally outside the school in Ayr Road in 2004.

It was demolished after Historic Scotland removed its listed building status.