The owners of the famous pink shopping centre in Elephant and Castle has been selected to lead the £2bn redevelopment of New Covent Garden Market.

Land developer St Modwen and French group Vinci will build thousands of new houses around the prospective US embassy, set to relocate from Mayfair in 2017, in the north of Wandsworth.

They also plan to begin developing a new 500,000 sq ft fresh produce market to house around 200 businesses next year.

New Covent Garden is home to the largest market in the UK for fruit, vegetables, flowers and plants after moving from the original site in central London more than 35 years ago.

The 57-acre site is the largest development in the Nine Elms opportunity area, potentially creating up to 16,000 new homes and 25,000 new jobs over the next decade.

St Modwen owns a property portfolio of around £1.1bn, around a third of which is in the capital, including the Elephant and Castle shopping centre in south London.

On the morning of the announcement shares in St Modwen rose 5.87 per cent to 171.25p at close of trading in the London Stock Exchange.

An outline planning application for the redevelopment scheme was submitted to Wandsworth Council by the market earlier this year - the proposal could go before the planning committee in May.

To find out more CGMA's plans for the market visit newcoventgardenmarket.com