THE biggest block of student housing in Dorset moved one step forward this week.

Giant cranes lifted two crucial 40-tonne beams into place at the former B&Q site on Bournemouth’s Holdenhurst Road.

It is hoped the project, being undertaken privately by the Watkin Jones Group, will breathe new life into the area and bring several million pounds into the local economy.

The six-storey high block will house an intriguing mix of 589 students. It will be open to students from Bournemouth University, The Arts University College at Bournemouth, the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic, and language students.

When it is completed next summer, it will be 71 places bigger than Bournemouth University’s Purbeck House on Oxford Road.

It is currently at a steel frame stage, and the huge truss beams were lifted into place by two of the UK’s largest cranes.

Later this month a single 24-metre beam will be lifted onto the structure to form the back of a new 750-seat auditorium that will be used by Citygate church.

The wanted to expand from its 350-seat home in St Swithun’s Road and had an agreement to buy the former B&Q site but came to a deal with Watkins Jones.

Andrew Lawrence, one of the church elders, said: “We knew the site would need to be developed but we could not get the money together on our own.”

He added: “I would guess the development is worth £25-£30 million.”

The planning application was passed in 2009. It said Bournemouth was 2,600 places short of student accommodation that it required for the institutions.