Charleroi's Rive Gauche claims eight million visitors in first year

Charleroi's new Rive Gauche shopping complex claims to have become the second biggest in Belgium - after just a year in business.

According to centre management, eight million people passed through the doors in the 12 months since Rive Gauche was inaugurated.

"With a monthly average of 646,362 visitors, we are one of the busiest shopping centres in the country, just behind Wijenegem Shopping Centre [on the outskirts of Antwerp]," management said.

Rive Gauche opened last March with 80 shops including Primark, Zara, Berscha, H&M, Kiabi and C&A, a four-star hotel, restaurants, apartments and underground parking. It is part of a bigger urban regeneration project for a city that suffered severe postwar economic depression.