The chief executive of Knowsley Council has admitted the authority has 'no control' over when or if Kirkby's new town centre will finally be built.
Large parts of the old town centre have been demolished in preparation for redevelopment , with areas fenced off from the public.
But despite work preparing the area for construction finishing last year, developer St Modwen, which owns the land, has not set a date for when work will start on the new town centre .
In a post on a council-run website, the authority's top officer Mike Harden said the council had had multiple 'difficult discussions' with developer St Modwen, which bought the town centre from Tesco in 2015, about when work would start.
Mr Harden said he knew people in Kirkby were 'incredibly frustrated' about the situation and said he felt the same way.
But he added: "There is only so much that the Council can do in a town centre which is owned by a separate private sector organisation.
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"Right now, we have no control over this situation – I wish we did."
St Modwen was granted planning permission for the work in November 2017 .
Mr Harden also called on Knowsley residents to contact the developer themselves to voice their support for the project - and said retailers that have signed leases for the new development are still behind the plans.
Morrisons, KFC and Home Bargains are among the companies that have signed leases to occupy space in the new shops.
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But Mr Harden said wider uncertainty over the viability of town centre shopping across Britain was causing St Modwen to be 'very cautious' about progressing with the project.
And he revealed that the council even offered to rent a certain amount of space in shops that are meant to be built to give the developer certainty over their investment.
But he said even that assurance hasn't been enough, adding that he felt the council had done everything it could to get St Modwen to set a date and said he would continue to do so.
He said: "We aren’t prepared to wait forever to see something positive move forward, but getting St Modwen to start is still the best option I can see."
The chief exec also hit out at rumours spread over the internet about the fate of the town centre , calling them 'fake news'.
St Modwen have been contacted but have not responded with a comment.
