White City shopping colossus unveiled

London's biggest shopping centre will open with almost 300 stores in 2008, it was revealed today.

The £1.6 billion mall at Shepherd's Bush will be twice as big as Brent Cross and about the same size as Bluewater near Dartford, in Kent.

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However, it will dwarf other shopping malls close to the centre of the capital and, at just three miles from Oxford Street, poses a massive threat to the West End.

Detailed plans for the 150,000 square metre glass-roofed building, to be known as Westfield London, were unveiled last night at a party at the Natural History Museum.

Guests included Jade Jagger and her daughters Amber, 11, and Assisi, 14, DJ Richard Bacon, designer Matthew Williamson and retailer Philip Green.

They were told the centre will transform the area around Shepherd's Bush and White City - once used as the TV setting for Steptoe and Son and "Minder" Arthur Daley's lock-up garage.

Westfield, an Australian shopping centre developer, said there would be flagship branches of Marks&Spencer, Debenhams, Waitrose and Next, as well as 265 smaller shops. It will include a "luxury mall" over three floors dedicated exclusively to top designer brands.

There are also plans for more than 40 places to eat, including 15 restaurants and dozens of cafés, bars and "street food" pods specialising in European and Asian cuisine.

The plan includes 200 affordable homes and an overhaul of Shepherd's Bush Green.

Westfield says it will act as a catalyst for a further £1 billion developmentin the area and about 4,000 jobs will be created.

Director David Slade said: "We will offer a line-up of restaurants, bars, cafés and food shops that cater to all tastes and to all occasions."

However, there are concerns about traffic congestion and the impact on specialist shops on Uxbridge Road, which was recently voted the most diverse high street in London.