A COMPANY that owns a town centre car park is today seeking advice from professional developers to decide what to do with the space.NCP owns the car park behind the Ipswich and Norwich Co-op, on Carr Street, and had originally planned to turn the area into the Mint Quarter shopping centre in Ipswich.

A COMPANY that owns a town centre car park is today seeking advice from professional developers to decide what to do with the space.

NCP owns the car park behind the Ipswich and Norwich Co-op, on Carr Street, and had originally planned to turn the area into the Mint Quarter shopping centre in Ipswich.

But after plans were put on hold and long-term leases on neighbouring shops came to an end the quarter turned into a shabby derelict area. The company has now been left desperately looking for potential uses for the area.

Bosses at NCP admitted to the Evening Star in April that they were not the best qualified to develop the site on their own and were willing to take offers from developers wishing to purchase the land.

At the time a spokesman from NCP said: "NCP is a company which runs car parks. It is not a property development company.

"If someone else felt they could get work on the Mint Quarter up and running and was prepared to pay the right price for the site NCP would not stand in the way."

Sources now say NCP have turned to professional developers to seek expertise advice and options for the site include office space, commercial use, residential use or a mixture of all three.

NCP declined to comment on the new plans for the development but information is set to come to light within the following months.

The site was allocated for retail development by the borough council and should be worth many millions of pounds to any developer who wishes to take on the work.

It is understood the council is looking for a mixed development, which is thought to include housing.

A spokesman for Ipswich Borough Council, said: "We are working closely with NCP and we look forward to seeing new proposals."