WORK on a major cinema and hotel development is well on track, a director of the firm behind the project has said, as work on the steel frame begins.

The first sections of steelwork on the £30m Feethams Leisure development can now be seen rising above the hoardings around the Darlington town centre site as construction work continues in earnest.

Simon Hawkins, development director at Terrace Hill, the company behind the project, said Feethams Leisure is on target to open by Easter next year.

The former bus depot site will be home to a Vue Cinema, a Premier Inn hotel and a number of restaurants including Nandos, Purple Pig, a Hungry Horse, Prezzo, Bella Italia and a Chinese buffet.

Mr Hawkins said: "We've been sorting out the ground and putting the foundations, which takes time, a long time for a scheme this size.

"We are on schedule and looking to open by March next year.

"The reality is that we will be handing over the units to tenants in November this year. That is when all the interiors will be done but to all intents and purposes the scheme will look pretty much done well before it opens."