CONSTRUCTION on a multi-million pound leisure complex that will be taller than the Imax is set to begin this year, its developer has said.

Although last month it was claimed that work on the Nautilus development would finally begin in February 2014, Trevor Osborne told councillors yesterday that the foundations have already been laid.

The development, which will feature a nine-screen cinema, 14 restaurants and around 360 car parking spaces, has been the subject of a 10-year battle.

Mr Osborne said: “We are determined not to be put off and we do intend that construction will start at the end of the year, with the aim that it is completed within 24 months.

“We are talking to contractors very seriously and discussions are advancing extraordinarily well.”

MR Osborne tackled claims that the development could cost Bournemouth taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds as the Bath Road North car park will be sold and then rented back by the council for between 75 and 125 years.

The Daily Echo reported earlier this month that documents seen by our reporter suggested the council could pay up to £325 million in rent over 75 years.

But the developer said the number quoted was “absolute nonsense” adding: “This is a quality development that the council will be getting at a bargain price.”

The scheme, on the Bath Road North car park next to the Pavilion theatre, originally featured a casino, which then became cinema-led at the request of councillors and residents.

Mr Osborne said 11 restaurants are set to move into the space when it is complete, but added that he is still waiting to sign up a restaurant for the top of the spire.

“We are looking for a very high-profile restaurateur for that sensational space,” he said.

“This [development] is going to be beautiful and I think the essence of the gardens. It’s not cheap but there are things which we cannot sacrifice.”

The cost of the development is expected to reach around £50 million. Mr Osborne said he was determined to make it different to out-of-town “windowless box” cinemas.

“They are inelegant and inappropriate,” he said. “This site is extraordinarily sensitive."