Bluewater shopping centre has dropped in value by £76.8millon, according to one of its shareholders.

Property company Lend Lease has announced that the value of its 30 per cent stake in the Kent shopping centre has plummeted in the last year to £570million.

This is despite Bluewater reporting strong trading figures for the first six months of 2008.

Lend Lease’ stake in Bluewater, bought in 1999, originally cost £250million. By June 30, 2007, the holding had rocketed to £647.4million.

But its valuation for June 2008 saw it decrease to £570.6million.

Lend Lease, which is also developing the Olympics village for the London 2012 games, said the drop would not impact its profit and loss account or balance sheet.

The latest figures for Bluewater show sales for January to June 2008 rose by 0.1 per cent and footfall went up by 6.9 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Most of the money was spent on fashion and travel at the Greenhithe shopping mecca.

Last month Andrew Parkinson, Bluewater general manager, said: "Despite tough trading conditions, Bluewater has delivered a very robust performance in the first six months of the year."

He added: "Retail therapy appears to be a welcome respite for guests."