Centrale shopping centre could be sold to property company Hammerson within days as part of a £250m deal for six retail developments around the UK.

The Kuwaiti government-owned St Martins group is believed to have entered preliminary talks with Hammerson, with a view to completing a deal with the preferred bidder in the New Year.

Other properties up for sale are Newcastle’s Monument Mall, shopping centres in Coventry and Lichfield and retail parks in Rugby and Folkestone.

The bid follows Hammerson’s sale of the jointly owned Bishops Square development in central London last week, raising a total of £557m.

Centrale in North End, Croydon is one of the largest shopping centres in London, boasting 820,000 sq ft of floor space.

It replaced the much smaller Drummond Centre when it was opened in 2004.