Developer LXB Properties has been waiting for months for a decision on the 465,000 sq ft shopping and leisure complex.

Several contractors including BAM, Bowmer & Kirkland and McLaren have been in project talks but progress was being hampered by planning uncertainty.

Plans for the scheme were contested by several rival retailers and developers who warned about its impact on Northampton town centre.

Now LXB Properties can go ahead with the retail park on a 244-acre plot of brownfield land next to the A45 Northampton Road,

The plans will see the former Skew Bridge Country Club and dry ski slope redeveloped with a 74,000 sq ft home and garden centre and 340,000 sq ft of shops across three terraces, alongside a lakeside visitor centre with restaurants.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said Mr Pickles agreed with independent planning inspector Harold Stephens that the effect on Corby, Kettering and Northampton town centres would “not be significant”.