DEVELOPERS behind a £10 million leisure scheme in Harrogate say they have received “overwhelming support” at a public exhibition.

The plans, which include a 4-screen cinema, restaurants and bars on the site of the former Co-Operative building in Albert Street/Station Parade, were viewed by almost 300 people at Harrogate Library.

Attendees were invited to complete a comments form afterwards and 80 per cent supported the scheme.

Paul Lancaster, managing director of Harrogate-based regeneration specialists 4Urban, which is proposing the development, thanked those who responded and said the comments would help shape revisions to the plans ahead of a planning application in the next three to four weeks.

Fellow 4Urban director Richard Holmes, added: “The exhibition enabled us to answer questions that people had about car parking, the demand from restaurant and bar operators for space in Harrogate and the relationship of the independent art-house cinema to the Odeon and its blockbuster offering.

“The scheme will be served by more than 2,000 readily accessible existing car parking spaces while all of the restaurants and bars will be new to Harrogate and complementary to the art-house cinema.”

If planning permission is granted the scheme, which will bring up to 250 new jobs to Harrogate, will be open for business by early 2016.