THE opening of the Victoria Square retail and leisure development in Woking town centre will no longer happen this year.

The multi-million-pound transformation project – with new luxury Hilton Hotel, flagship Marks & Spencer store, 429 apartments, medical centre and public plazas – has been pushed back to next spring.

 “Our aim was to open in time for Christmas but, because of pressures beyond our control, this was simply not possible,” said Cllr Ayesha Azad, the leader of Woking Borough Council.

“Our development contractor, Sir Robert McAlpine, has suffered shortages of labour and materials because of COVID-19 and, like many similar projects across the UK, the pandemic has had an impact on the completion date.

“I understand this will be disappointing to many who, like me, have watched with anticipation as the development grew over the past few years.

“However, Victoria Square Woking Ltd is working closely with Sir Robert McAlpine to ensure that we can look forward to welcoming residents and shoppers to the state-of-the-art scheme when we officially open in 2022.”