BUILDING work on the much-awaited £150m scheme to regenerate a deprived area of north Liverpool will not start for at least a year.

Developers St Modwen have admitted that it is likely to take longer than a year to complete the legal process to allow Project Jennifer to go ahead.

The news comes just days after peace was finally declared in the bitter supermarket war that had contributed to delays on the scheme.

Two weeks ago, the High Court rejected Tesco’s plans for the Great Homer Street area of Everton.

The supermarket said it will not appeal the decision, allowing rival Sainsbury’s to be involved in the £150m Project Jennifer scheme.

Tesco has also agreed to start negotiations with the city council over a stretch of land it owns in the area which is needed for the project.

The decision allows the development – including new homes, a health centre, a library, and a 110,000 sq ft supermarket for rivals Sainsbury’s – to go ahead.

Liverpool council and developer St Modwen previously said Tesco’s legal wrangling was holding up Project Jennifer.

Tesco wanted to build a 27,000 sq ft stand-alone superstore and indoor and outdoor market.

The two parties were at loggerheads because none could proceed without the other’s land.

The announcement that Tesco was abandoning its court battle closed one of the most bitter disputes between the city council and a company in Liverpool over a regeneration scheme.

Last night Michelle Taylor, regional director of St Modwen, said there were 150 interested owners whose property needed to be bought across the 45 acres around the development.

The first step is the issuing of a compulsory purchase order (CPO), but the company said it hopes to start negotiations with land owners.

She said because of a lack of bank finance it was far harder to complete acquisitions during the CPO process than before the credit crunch.