THOUSANDS of workers battled against the clock to get the Westfield London shopping centre ready for launch this morning.

An army of labourers, carpenters, store employees, cleaner and engineers worked through the night to meet the 9am deadline to turn a messy building site into Europe's largest urban mall.

Around 250 shops and 30 restaurants - 85 per cent of the total - start trading today in a development covering the same amount of ground as Buckingham Palace and its gardens.

As dawn broke over the 43-acre site this morning labourers with jet washers blasted mortar stains, mud and discarded cigarette butts from new granite steps and stone paving slabs, while wagons plied slip roads leading from a nearby dual carriageway.

Security workers said the appearance of the shopping centre's exterior had changed in a matter of hours.

A site manager added: "It's all hands to the pump, but it will be ready."

There were questions about whether developers Westfield had set too ambitious a target as the "Village" zone is not ready. But Michael Gutman, managing director of Westfield in Europe, said. "The mall looks fantastic. We have had a huge committed team to get the job done. We wanted to give retailers the best possible launch into Christmas."

Mayor Boris Johnson officially opened the £1.6 billion Shepherd's Bush complex in a 9.45am ceremony, accompanied by performances by Leona Lewis and girl group The Saturdays.

Yasmin Le Bon was one of the first special guests to appear earlier this morning. The model cut the ribbon at House of Fraser while models Twiggy and Erin O'Connor joined Sir Stuart Rose at M&S. But only a handful of shoppers had braved icy temperatures to be among the first through the doors, which opened at 9am. Adam Lane and Fallon Warren, both 17, arrived at 6am in hope of scooping up freebies.

"I heard House of Fraser were giving away goodies and Waitrose were giving money prizes," said Adam. "It looks like we may be the only ones here." His friend Fallon said: "It's half term now so we're not missing anything important."

There was disappointment that only around half the shops in the Village area are ready, and many will not be open until the New Year, including the flagship Louis Vuitton store. The 14-screen cinema and entertainment complex will not be ready until next summer.

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