Malcolm McVicar, the chairman of Preston Vision Board, which came up with the idea, wants to press ahead with plans to revitalise the riverside as it flows through the city – with or without the controversial barrage.

He believes the dream of having cafes, restaurants and homes alongside the river can be done without spending millions on a dam to hold back tidal waters.

It comes after Preston Council leader Ken Hudson declared that the barrage scheme would not happen under his control.

Dr McVicar said: "The river is a tremendous asset for Preston which is largely ignored.

"In other cities you can walk along the riverside, you can live next to it, you can sit in a cafe or restaurant next to it, you cannot do any of that in Preston.

"If you go back 100 years and look at how the riverside was used, you will see it was heavily used for recreation and that is what we want.

"The barrage is a separate issue. You can develop the river without the need for a barrage, the problem is that some people do not want any change.

"There are people in Preston who would quite happily still be living in the 1950s, but we have to think of the future for the next 15 or 20 years.

"We cannot afford to live in the past."

Coun Hudson said that he was waiting for South Ribble Council to feed back its ideas on the riverside development to the Vision Board before moving forward.

He said that his focus was on developing the Lancaster Canal and making improvements to the city's docklands.

Coun Hudson said: "The barrage element has hijacked the whole scheme because of the opposition from environmental groups, so we have decided that until South Ribble Council gets back to us with its ideas, we are focused on the canalside and quayside."

Jane Brunning, spokesman for the Save the Ribble group which opposes the barrage plans, said she would be quite happy with development of the riverside which did not upset its delicate ecosystem.

She said: "It is a case of working with nature and enhancing it rather than just concreting up the sides of the river as had previously been suggested."