Plans have been approved to deliver a £300 million mixed-use development in Chester.

The 500,000 sq ft Chester Northgate scheme will feature new retail, restaurant and leisure facilities in the Northgate area of the city. Construction on the first phase is due to begin in autumn 2017.

Plans include building a new six-screen 715-seater cinema with a ground-level foyer and café bar opening onto the new Market Square and Hunter Street. In addition, a new market hall will replace the current Chester Market, while a 167-bedroom hotel/conference centre will be developed as a replacement for the existing Crowne Plaza hotel.

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A series of restaurants will be built in the existing Chester Library building on Northgate Street. The existing hotel, together with the Forum shopping centre and several other buildings, will then be demolished in 2019. It is expected the whole development will be completed and open by 2021.

Work will then begin on the second phase of construction to create the main retail offer and department store.

Councillor Brian Clarke said: "The development of Northgate has been a long held ambition.

"When it became clear that the private sector was not going to deliver what the city needed, the Council took control with the view to progressing proposals to a stage where the private sector is willing to invest. Obtaining planning consent is a major component.

"This proposal delivers a new development that will feel like Chester and not just like any other city."

(LM/JP)