Once-thriving UK shopping centre now guarded compound with dogs and spiked fence

A once-thriving British shopping centre set for an £18million upgrade has now plunged into despair.

West Lothian Shopping Centre was once hailed as Scotland’s premier outlet when it opened in 1996, boasting 40 shops including Versace, DKNY, and Calvin Klein.

But when it went out of business, the site was left to rot and it is now completely closed off to the world.

Located between Edinburgh and Glasgow, the mall also had a Leisureland facility with soft play, go karts, an entertainment centre plus many more activities for tots.

An £18m upgrade was approved just one year after the opening and would have included a snow centre with ski slops and a children’s wonderland, a golf course and a putting range.

But the Livingston Designer Outlet suffered a tragic demise and most of the big brand shops abandoned the site not long after its launch.

The entire project, owned by Freeport, was closed in 2004 just a little more than eight years after it opened.

This week, Edinburgh Live’s Abbie Meehan took a trip to the 50,000 square-foot site to see what is left of it today.

“Upon arrival, signs told us that the site was under surveillance and that there was no availability to get inside and look around the area,” she said.

“However, looking through the fence still gave some insight into what the place would’ve looked like all those years ago.

“A large building with a clock face on it is the first thing you see peering through, with buildings shaped like the walls of a castle surrounding it.

“There is no other road into the area other than the one that is fenced off – keeping all visitors out.

“Keeping the infamous centre safe and avoiding damage or vandalism is the main aim of this fence – and we can see why.”

The area is now heavily guarded, meaning Abbie did not manage to make it inside.

But photographs taken of its exterior show it in surprisingly good condition for a place that has barely been used, except for appearing in a BBC zombie-themed children’s show in 2015.

There are currently no plans to redevelop the site, and proposals to transform it into a housing development were rejected by West Lothian Council.

The most recent comments on the proposal were made by a local council spokesperson some years ago.

The most recent comments on it came from a local council spokesman a few years ago.

“Leisure and tourist uses, specialised employment, starter units, or institutional uses appropriate to a rural location will be supported,” they said.

“Some element of new or extended building with the development envelope on site and/or housing – with very low density and a maximum of 30 houses meriting a rural location, all confined to the development envelope – will be considered, where this is shown to be necessary in terms of the financial viability of an appropriate scheme.”