Harrogate cinema plans for Beales department store

Image source, Google

Image caption, The plans are for the building to be demolished and replaced with a cinema

A 拢10m cinema and restaurant complex could be built on the site of a Harrogate department store that is due to close.

Beales store in the former Co-operative site on Station Parade and Albert Road in the North Yorkshire town is to close in September, the company said.

Plans for its demolition are to be submitted to Harrogate Borough Council, the site's developers said.

The new development could create up to 250 jobs, 4Urban Consulting Ltd said.

Paul Lancaster, managing director of 4Urban, which acquired the building in 2009, said the four-screen cinema development could "add considerably to the overall attraction of Harrogate".

Planning permission is to be sought and a public exhibition would be held, the developers said.

The 1950s building is to be demolished and replaced with one "in sympathy" with the Victorian architecture of the town centre.

The Victorian buildings on Albert Street that make up part of the site are to be retained, it added.

No operator for the planned cinema has been announced.

Beales said it had sought to extend its lease in Harrogate but had been served notice. It currently has 30 stores nationwide.