OWNERS of small businesses in Burnley have launched a David and Goliath battle to save their shops from the bulldozer.

Six shops in Curzon Street have been served with compulsory purchase orders by Burnley Council and face demolition to make way for the proposed £55million shopping redevelopment on the former Pioneer site.

Plans for the development - dubbed The Oval - include a flagship department store, 22 two-storey shop units and space for restaurants and bars centred around an oval public space to replace the town's Peace Gardens.

But the shopkeepers have written to developer Henry Boot asking it to reconsider their plans.

The developer wants the Curzon Street site for part of the flagship department store, possibly Debenhams, and has said it will pull out of the scheme if the site is not included.

The North West Development Agency could ask Burnley council to return a grant of £1.8million which was used to buy the Pioneer site from former owners the Co-op.

Independent councillor Paula Riley, who runs the Chiropody Clinic, is one of those affected by the CPOs.

She said: "We all welcome the new development. But there must be a way we can reach some sort of balanced mix where we can have the development yet retain the small businesses."

Kay Donohoe, owner of Waterlife & Pets, Curzon Street, has spent thousands of pounds on improving her business and renovating an upstairs flat to live in.

She said: "I have had all this work done and they have let me do it. I want Burnley to progress and I have nothing against the development, it is just the way the council have gone about it."

The Chamber of Trade has voiced its support for traders.

The developer is aiming to submit and planning application for the development, which is expected to create 400 jobs, early next year. If that is approved, construction could start in summer 2005 and the complex could be completed by 2008.

A spokesman for Burnley Council said: "In the case of the Pioneer store development, key retailers who were necessarily targeted for the scheme insisted that the new development was highly visible from the Marks and Spencer end of Curzon Street.

"Also, in planning terms, this was essential to ensure the scheme properly linked into the town centre.

"To achieve this, we had no option but to include the block of shops along Curzon Street."

No one at Henry Boot was unavailable for comment.