Property developer Kevin Linfoot today told workers to move off the £155 million Lumiere site in Wellington Street in Leeds city centre.

CLICK HERE TO SEE READER'S VIEWS ON THE STORY

The move to cease construction of the two glass towers which would have soared 55 and 33 storeys above the city's skyline was blamed on the "credit crunch" which has gripped the country.

But a spokeswoman for KW Linfoot insisted the move was only temporary and that the site would not been mothballed.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAVE YOU BOUGHT A FLAT THERE? EMAIL US YOUR VIEWS BY CLICKING HERE. WE'LL PUBLISH THE LOT.

She said building work would resume when economic conditions improved but could not specify a date.

Giant drills have been on the site inserting piles into the foundations to support the towers.

The spokeswoman said work on this stage has been completed.

In May a futuristic high rise tower block which was to have been the centrepiece of a £160m regeneration of the former Leeds International Pool site has was scrapped.

The 24-storey Spiracle Tower fell victim to the faltering residential property market.

The skyscraper - also known as the "Poppadom Tower" - was designed by London architects Make, whose Ken Shuttleworth is the man behind the capital's famed "gherkin" high-rise block.

In the same month the YEP reported that by juggling with millimetres ingenious architects had created dozens of extra flats in the plans for Lumiere.

Simply by reducing ceiling heights on every floor of Lumiere by just 5cm, the designers said they had managed to eke out enough space for an extra storey.

The alterations were part of a revised planning application by KW Linfoot, which included increasing the height of the buildings by around a metre so the lifts could run faster, as well as changing the blend of apartments on offer.

This would have created a total of 114 more flats, if Leeds City Council gave the revised plans the go-ahead.

The twin towers were planned to be 172m (55 storeys) and 113m (33 storeys) tall respectively, with 952 homes rather than 838.

The revised plans were submitted to the council and a decision was expected at the beginning of the month, but KW Linfoot joint managing director Richard Dean said no problems were expected.

When completed Lumiere will house around 120 serviced apartments, a covered public winter garden connecting the two towers, offices, a health centre, plus ground floor and mezzanine level retail uses and basement car parking.

Tower 1 will not only be Leeds's tallest building but Europe's tallest residential tower.

Carillion recently won the £155m contract to build Lumiere, which was scheduled to take around four years to complete.

Richard Dean, Joint Managing Director at K W Linfoot Plc said: "We are of course disappointed that we are unable to progress plans for Lumiere to the anticipated timescale but we have to take heed of the current climate. We have made a sensible and pragmatic decision to put on hold construction at a time when the piling works are complete and before we embark on the next phase.

"We have already invested a considerable amount of time and money to deliver this iconic structure for Leeds and remain committed to progress plans when the market stabilises. Hopefully this will be sooner rather than later.

"Marketing of the high quality apartments will be unaffected as KW Linfoot Plc will continue to promote the development of Lumiere, both locally and nationally. All existing purchase contracts will remain although completions will be delayed in line with a revised construction programme."