Debenhams plans an 85,000 sq ft store

On Tuesday St Edmundsbury Borough Council announced music chain HMV, booksellers Waterstone's and clothes chain H&M were expected to open shops.

Debenhams, which plans an eye-catching shopfront, was previously the sole retailer committed to the Suffolk site.

The development will host 35 stores and is scheduled to open in 2007.

Marianne Hulland, spokeswoman for the council, said: "Plans for a new development of some kind have been talked about for 40 years.

Public comment sought

"There was a development planned which did not go through in the 1990s, but this development will."

She said the council was encouraging the public to send in their comments regarding the proposed plan because it was "keen to listen to as many comments as possible".

A spokesman for Bury St Edmunds' Chamber of Commerce told BBC Radio Suffolk that interest from retailers was good news for the town and will bring in more shoppers.

But issues surrounding a lack of car parking space and links to the old town remain controversial.