Shoppers and passers-by were surprised to see activity on the Trinity Leeds plot between Briggate, Commercial Street, Albion Street and Boar Lane less than two months after the developers said they were putting the £650m scheme on ice until the economy improved.

But any hopes that the project - set to be the city's biggest shopping complex – was miraculously back on track, have now been put to rest.

A spokesman for Trinity Quarter Developments Limited, said: "In view of the city-centre location of the Trinity Leeds site, we are taking the precautionary measure of removing the tower crane for the period of the temporary shutdown of work on site.

"In other parts of the UK, there have been incidents where unauthorised people - including children - have trespassed on construction sites and put themselves in danger by scaling cranes."

The spokesman added: "The dismantling and removal operation began on Thursday and is scheduled to take two days.

"Removal of the crane is being timed to minimise disruption to city centre traffic and pedestrians."

The site will be locked up and remain under 24-hour security and monitoring during the shutdown.

The scheme was expected to be finished by Christmas 2010 but work is now not expected to re-start until next year.