Two bidders, including the former owners, are believed to be battling it out to snap up Shrewsbury’s three main shopping centres in a multi-million pound deal.

The Shearer Property Group has confirmed it has submitted an offer for the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside shopping centres, reportedly in a joint venture with Ignis Asset Management.

Former owners of the centres – Protego Real Estate Investors – are also understood to have bid for the sites. It is thought that the bids range between £55 million and £60 million.

Protego’s UK Actively Managed Shopping Centre Fund lost control of the centres earlier this year when debt managers Hatfield Philips were called in as a special servicer to the £82 million loan secured against the shopping centres.

It followed the collapse of American bank Lehman Brothers last year. The three linked shopping centres were bought by Protego for £118 million in 2006 in a deal involving Lehman Brothers.

Hatfield Philips decided the centres must be sold and they were put on the market in September.

Adam Markwell, director of Shearer Property Group, said his firm had bid for the centres about two weeks ago but had not heard anything since.

He said: “Obviously we are in touch with the vendors but we don’t believe they have made a decision.”

Mr Markwell said Shrewsbury was an attractive town to invest in.

He said: “I think the demographics of the town are very good and it has an attractive catchment. It is a prime patch in Pride Hill which is very limited and there is an opportunity to provide some better shops in the town to fulfil modern retailers’ requirements.”