Council bosses are to completetly rethink the £800m Riverworks project, replacing the original plan with three distinct schemes, called Quayside, Canalside and Riverside, which will be examined separately.

And the Riverside part of the scheme – which contains the most controversial elements of Riverworks – has been "put on hold" for the time being, according to council leader Ken Hudson.

The move was today being held up as a victory for public pressure and comes following the Save the Ribble campaign group's two-and-a-half-year battle against the construction of a Ribble barrage and the development of hundreds of homes on river floodplains.

Campaigners have claimed building a barrage could lead to a flooding disaster similar to that seen in Hull this year. It is claimed the scheme would create a permanently high river along a floodplain which stretches from Penwortham Holme to Fishwick Bottoms which would overload drains and spark flash floods in heavy rain.

Instead, ideas such as a mini-tram system around Preston and floating water taxis through the city centre look set to move a step closer after Coun Hudson revealed money is to be spent on top-level probe into the ideas.

Jane Brunning, of of the Save the Ribble campaign, which was set up to oppose Riverworks, said: "It is as well they have split them because it stops the whole project being tarred with the same brush. It makes sense because the other elements have a lot going for them."

Coun Hudson said the decision to put the barrage idea on hold is "due to insufficient consultation with residents of Preston and South Ribble."

For more on this story and further details of the other elements of the project, see Wednesday's Lancashire Evening Post.