Construction is due to begin on a £115 million project boasting a new cinema, restaurants and bars.

Dubbed the Riverside, the Canterbury development will also see the creation of a public square, 189 affordable homes and new student flats at the city's former coach park in Kingsmead.

Planning permission for the much-anticipated leisure and housing complex, which will include a five-screen Curzon cinema, was secured last year.

Canterbury City Council has today taken full ownership of all the land and will sign off final legal steps during the next fortnight.

The site will then be transferred to the authority's development partner, Linkcity.

The scheme, which the council hopes will encourage on-foot tourists to venture further away from the city centre, is set to be completed in 2023.

Council Leader Rob Thomas said: "It has been a long time coming but we are delighted to have got to this significant milestone of full site ownership.

"Although much of the land was ours already, there were several smaller areas that were privately owned and we have had to work hard to secure these.

"Regeneration of the Kingsmead area has been a long-held ambition for us and we know there is lots of public support for the project.

"Top quality leisure facilities and much-needed affordable housing, alongside student accommodation that Canterbury is still short of, will transform this tired area of the city.

"We’re looking forward to seeing work getting underway in a few weeks’ time and our vision for Kingsmead finally being realised."

Identities of the potential restaurant chains coming to the site are yet to be revealed.

Kingsmead car park and the footbridge into the car park from Kingsbrook Park are closed in preparation for the building work.

More than 200 car parking spaces will be provided in the new development.

The 189 homes built at the site will be affordable - with 40% being council houses and the remainder being allocated to a shared ownership scheme.

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