WORK to create a John Lewis store at Exeter's former Debenhams building is on hold while new plans are drawn up for a much larger outlet at the site, the Echo can reveal. It is understood the company's board is deciding whether to create a major department store in the city rather than a John Lewis At Home, which was originally proposed.

It means the retail giant is unlikely to open in the autumn as originally planned.

In March the Echo revealed that work had stopped on the redevelopment of the building in Sidwell Street after asbestos was discovered.

Midas, the contractor carrying out the work, said that the problem was not as bad as first thought. But it revealed that redevelopment work had stopped while plans are drawn up for a much larger store.

Around 200 workers were initially involved in the redevelopment. They are unlikely to be back in the building before the end of June.

Land Securities, which owns the building, was recently granted planning permission to add extra floors to the development.

John Lewis has refused to confirm that it is now planning a department store rather than an At Home outlet.

A spokeswoman said: "Our landlord, Land Securities, was recently granted planning permission to release further space at the Sidwell Street site for retail use.

"As a result, we are in discussions about the development and currently reviewing the timetable for the refurbishment. John Lewis is excited about bringing our offer to Exeter and hoping to open as soon as possible."

Andy Smith, group director of business development at Midas, said: "We discovered asbestos in the building which nobody knew was there.

"Luckily it wasn't really anything to be alarmed about and that's now been dealt with quite comfortably in the usual way."

But he said construction work was still on hold while the plans were revised after John Lewis decided it wanted to occupy a larger area of the building than originally planned. He added: "We hope to recommence work in mid to late June."

Exeter City Council leader Pete Edwards said he was aware that there was a delay in the development but said it would ultimately be good news for the city.

He said: "There is a slight delay so that the plans can be re-drawn but this is not a major issue and John Lewis is still coming to Exeter."

John Lewis At Home stores concentrate on household items such as furniture, furnishing accessories, electrical goods and home technology, and the Exeter outlet would have been the only one of five such stores in the country to be in a city centre.

The new extension will make the development two floors larger than the original proposal approved by the city council's planning committee last year.