A MAJOR regeneration project for Boscombe will cost almost £1.3 million more than anticipated - yet will generate an unexpected £300,000 windfall for the council.

The Boscombe Spa Village scheme is £876,000 over budget - an amount blamed on the delays suffered by the project when unhappy residents threatened a judicial review.

And the council's plans to restore Boscombe Chine Gardens are also proving £413,000 more expensive than first thought, due to increased quantity surveying costs.

But thanks to the sale price of the Honeycombe Chine land also increasing, the council will actually end up with hundreds of thousands of pounds-worth of profit.

Developer Barratts originally agreed a sale price of £8.25 million, which would have paid for all the improvements in Boscombe and left the council with an excess of £87,500.

But this price has since increased to £9.66 million, which will pay for the regeneration scheme and leave the council with £300,000 to put towards other projects in the town.

Cllr Adrian Fudge, cabinet member for resources, said: "This really is great news.

"Not only have we secured enough funding from the developer Barratts and the Heritage Lottery Fund to fully fund both schemes, we have £300,000 to spare.

"This is great news for Boscombe as it means both the Chine Gardens and the Spa Village regeneration projects can go ahead in their entirety and great news for the rest of the town, because the developments are not costing the local taxpayer a penny in capital costs."

Cabinet members will be asked to agree to the revised cost provisions at their meeting on Wednesday, September 6.