DEVELOPERS of a £30m new indoor ski centre in Middlesbrough are planning to incorporate an ice bar, indoor skydiving, bowling, a trampoline park, climbing wall and soft play into the building, it emerged last night.

Cool Runnings (NE), the company behind the venture, is building Subzero on an area of land between the Temenos sculpture and Middlesbrough College, in the Middlehaven area of town close to the Riverside Stadium.

Talks are understood to be ongoing with potential operators for the different leisure uses and roadworks are almost complete to provide access to the site via a new £10m road bridge and link road.

Work on the site is now expected to start in summer next year and it is hoped the building, which will have views over the dock side, will be complete by winter 2020.

Inside the snow box will be an ice climbing wall and ice bar, and there will be cafes, restaurants and shops in the rest of the building. A gym and a fun family clip and climb facility will also be on offer.

The site will have two ski slopes – one for beginners and lessons measuring 52m by 50m and a main slope for more accomplished skiers, measuring 165m by 30m.

Outline plans for the centre on the seven-acre site have already been approved unanimously by Middlesbrough Council's planning committee.

Cool Runnings director Rachael Howson said an application for full planning permission would be prepared soon.

She said many of the activities on-site are not available for miles around and that the snow centre would be the only one of its kind between Glasgow and Leeds.

Cool Runnings would own the building and let it to different operators, she said.

Plans are also afoot to use the nearby dock for cable skiing and a unit surf pool.

Middlehaven is already home to Middlesbrough FC, Middlesbrough College, offices and apartments and Ms Howson said she hoped the Subzero development would turn it into a vibrant destination.

Phase two of Cool Runnings' scheme involves a hotel on land near to the snow centre, along with bars and apartments.

Middlesbrough Mayor Dave Budd said: "Subzero will further enhance Middlesbrough’s status as a destination of regional and national importance.

"Not only will it create jobs and enhance our already burgeoning sport and leisure offer, it will also act as a key catalyst in attracting further investment and unlocking the regeneration potential of the whole area.

"This is a game-changer for Middlesbrough whose benefits will be enjoyed by generations to come."