WORK is due to start on the £55m Trinity Gardens development on Newcastle Quayside.

Preferred contractor Taylor Woodrow Construction and Silverlink Property Developments have finalised contract terms.

The mixed scheme comprises a five-storey office block featuring a glazed atrium with ground floor shops and cafes.

It will also include 58 luxury one and two-bed apartments, a multi-storey car park and city hotel.

It will be behind the law courts on the Quayside.

Taylor Woodrow was appointed preferred contractor for the development in September 2001, but has just finalised the various construction contracts.

The contract value for the design and build is £30m of the total £55m scheme.

Ian Jubb, customer director of Taylor Woodrow Construction, said: "We have been delighted to have been on board from the outset and the completion of contracts represents the culmination of a complex set of negotiations with the various parties involved. Trinity Gardens is a superb, mixed-use development in a prime location and is part of Taylor Woodrow's continuing drive for quality projects in and around Newcastle."

Ian Stewart, development director at Silverlink, added: "After months of legal and technical discussions we are delighted to have finalised contracts and to be starting work on site.

"We are working with the best to help deliver a creative and dynamic scheme, which Newcastle can be proud of."

The site was subject to archaeological explorations which were carried out and completed in November, along with the final technical details on a project that will complete the development of the central Quayside.

Work has now begun on preparing the site for the building work along with preliminary matters such as service diversions, road relocation and new infrastructure.

Work will begin on the four major buildings in the autumn, with the car park due to be completed first in the autumn of next year.