A council has signed an asset management deal to run a major shopping complex it owns.

Canterbury City Council has penned a contract with NewRiver to run its Whitefriars Shopping Centre.

The authority secured a £75.5million deal to acquire the remaining shares in the city centre site earlier this year from TH Real Estate.

It had splashed out £79m in 2016 to buy half the site.

Council chiefs believe it will provide a lucrative long-term investment once the borrowing is paid back.

Under the terms of the agreement, NewRiver will undertake full asset management responsibilities for the shopping centre in exchange for a management fee calculated as a proportion of net operational income received and a development fee calculated on third-party-tendered development costs.

The agreement will initially be for two years, with the option of a roll on for a further two years subject to the agreement of both parties. NewRiver will not acquire an equity stake in the asset as part of the agreement.

Whitefriars has 75 units across 474,000 sq ft and 530 car parking spaces. Anchor stores include Fenwick, Marks & Spencer, Next and Primark.

Allan Lockhart, chief executive of NewRiver said: "Against a growing trend of local authorities purchasing shopping centre assets and taking control of their town centres, NewRiver is ideally positioned to provide best-in-class asset management expertise to them, delivering thriving assets for local communities and sustainable, long-term revenue for our shareholders."

Colin Carmichael, chief executive of Canterbury City Council added: "Our purchase of Whitefriars Shopping Centre in February 2018 was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take control of one our city's key sites and ensure it works for the benefit of the community. The council is very pleased to be partnering with one of the UK's leading retail asset managers in NewRiver to realise this ambition."