Jersey's Liberty Wharf shopping centre opens

After a six month delay Jersey's new shopping centre has opened its doors.

Liberty Wharf is based at the former abattoir site in St Helier and features Marks and Spencer, Pasty Presto and Costa Coffee.

Gerry Comaskey, of the builders Harcourt Developments, said work on the historical site had been a detailed and meticulous process.

Mr Comaskey said it took time to ensure this piece of Jersey history was preserved.

Clair Sequeira, from Marks and Spencer, said it had been hard work to get to this stage.

She said: "If you had stood here a week ago like I did it would have been difficult to have imagined that it would look like it does today.

"It has been a lot of hard work, a lot of late nights, a lot of product to get in here, it is over 10,000 square feet, double what we've had before."

Annette Mueller Allensback, who owns an independent shop in the centre, said her shop was a marriage of old and new.

She said: "We've mixed the old and the new, so you've got the original, all the walls, everything is completely 100% original.

"I've put a new ceiling, a new roof and all the electrics hang because it is a listed building. It works, it shows you can blend the two together."