The retailer will take 95,000 sq ft of the 225,000 sq ft new building, which will integrate with the existing Darwin and Pride Hall centres and see the existing Riverside Shopping Centre bulldozed.

The new shopping mall will be covered by a glass, petal-shaped grid shell roof, similar to designs at Cabot Circus in Bristol and Trinity Leeds. It will house Debenhams, 50 shops, office space, 10 restaurants and cafes.

A 300-space underground car park built will be built with the existing Raven Meadows multi-storey car park refurbished and the bus station entrance improved and linked to the New Riverside centre.

Shearer Property Group and Ignis Asset Management, the developers behind the plans, hope to begin development in summer 2013, with an opening date scheduled for autumn 2015.

UK Commercial Property Trust, said that Shrewsbury had significant potential as a retail destination, with a large, affluent catchment area where no new retail space has been built for the past 20 years.

Christopher Hill, Chairman of UKCPT, said: ”The Council’s decision to approve our plans and the signing of a pre-let with a leading national department store operator in Debenhams represent a major step forward for the planned New Riverside redevelopment.

“With these critical milestones achieved, UKCPT will continue to progress its plans for the scheme, while assessing all options for the creation of maximum value on behalf of its shareholders.”

The £150 million shopping centre will create more than 700 jobs in Shrewsbury.