THE owners of Kendal's K Village have confirmed they are at the early stages of planning improvements at the popular outlet.

Despite the major knock-back that a controversial proposed large expansion of the site received in 2003, the new owners of the tourist magnet have said they would still like to upgrade the building.

The well-known factory outlet has rarely been out of the headlines in recent years. An ambitious plan by the Guinea Group to demolish the village and rebuild it on the same site, trebling the size of the shopping space, was blocked by the Government following an eight-day inquiry.

Last year it was announced that the complex had been bought. Three companies, called CUSP, Kennedy Group, and the Guinea Group, set up a company called Kendal Riverside Ltd to form a partnership to buy the village.

Clare Kitcat, for the Guinea Group, confirmed the new owners were interested in improving the site, although she stressed plans were at an early stage.

"If they had not believed in K Village and Kendal I don't think they would have bought it," she said.

"It's a jolly nice centre despite its all too obvious problems, in that it's an old building.

"Hopefully, over the next month or two, we will have come up with some solutions to improve it and make it nicer.

"It clearly won't be on the same scale, if at all, as the previous application as that was knocked back."

South Lakeland District Council assistant director (development) Peter Ridgway confirmed that planners had had discussions with the new owners.

He said there was an existing planning consent at the site to increase the retail space on the ground floor, and this would mean some changes to the first floor.

Mr Ridgway said that SLDC was still in favour of developments at K Village because of the benefits it could bring to Kirkland. The owners needed to work out the best way of implementing the existing planning consent, he said.