A CHANGE of plans for a proposed £36m retail and leisure development has been approved and is due to bring a further 100 jobs to the area.

Easington District Council agreed yesterday that the developers of the Dalton Flatts project, at Murton, East Durham, could increase the number of retail outlets and cut back on a multi-screen cinema.

A plan to build 100,000sq ft of factory shops and leisure facilities, including a hotel, cinema and bowling alley, was approved by Environment Secretary John Prescott last year.

The development promises work for 1,100 people and is seen as the key to the regeneration of an area devastated by pit closures.

But developer London and Amsterdam, which took over from Matthew Fox Developments, wanted to make amendments to the original plans.

Bosses said they needed to increase the number of factory shop outlets from 46 to 70 to make the scheme viable. They stressed that the scheme's success depended on an increase of the retail section being sanctioned.

Despite a promise of 100 more jobs as a result of the amendments, the proposal brought opposition from Sunderland City Council.

But yesterday, at a meeting of the Easington District Council, authority planning chief Ian Forster recommended the changes be allowed.

In a report to council members, who agreed to the amendments, he said: "The proposals would enhance the social, economic and environmental well-being of the community.