WORK on a new £50m scheme in Bournemouth, which will leave the town with “the greatest leisure hub on the South Coast,” will begin in early autumn.

The Nautilus development, which now has detailed planning permission, will create around 300 new jobs and provide the town with a new nine-screen cinema, a dozen new restaurants and 357 car spaces.

The scheme, which will go on the Bath Road North car park next to the Pavilion Theatre, has been in the pipeline for years.

It was originally intended to house a casino but became a cinema-led scheme at the request of councillors and residents.

It won full approval last year and, crucially, has secured an anchor tenant in Odeon Cinemas.

They will move into the Nautilus development when it is open in 2014, freeing up a major part of Westover Road for redevelopment.

Developer Trevor Osborne said the combination of the Pavilion, cinema, South West Dance centre and new Arts University Project was expected to draw more than a million people every year.

He said they had also signed up around half the required restaurants.

“The Nautilus will provide an opportunity for all of the best-in-class new restaurants to cluster together and also benefit from substantial outside dining,” he said.

“Negotiations are in advanced stages with numerous restaura-teurs vying for preferred locations where restaurants will spread over three floors with views to the Purbeck hills, over the new gardens and the classical elevation of the Pavilion.”

By securing a deal with the Odeon, the Nautilus scheme has now pulled way ahead in the race to build a cinema-led leisure complex in the town. It is a further blow for the proposed West Central development for Exeter Road, which recently lost the support of Bournemouth council.

Ambitious plans for the Winter Gardens site are at a much earlier stage and are still being considered by planners.

Development director Rory Davis acknowledged the long wait for visible progress, but promised: “There’s only one scheme in town and this is it.

“Odeon naturally wanted to cover all their bases, they have spoken to everyone in town and they have made their decision.

“This will be the scheme that kick-starts the Bournemouth vision.”

Ken Taylor of the Odeon Cinemas Group said they had been anxious to secure a new state-of-the-art cinema in Bournemouth for many years.

He described the Pavilion site as “the best leisure site in town.

“This is a wonderful location,” he said.

“We are sure our nine screens will be greatly welcomed by the people of Bournemouth and its many visitors.

“We are now committed to work to bring this scheme to a completion.”