British Land has moved closer to beginning construction of Plymouth's £40m Drake Circus Leisure scheme as the company served notice on Plymouth City Council to vacate Bretonside Coach Station.

With planning permission recently granted by Plymouth City Council for the 100,000 sq ft scheme, located next to Drake Circus Shopping Centre, British Land has exchanged contracts with Cineworld to anchor the development with a 12 screen IMAX cinema.

David Pollock, Retail Development Director for British Land, said: "Once complete, Drake Circus Leisure will be the most significant leisure scheme in the South West and we are delighted to be one step closer to delivering the project.  The recent letting to Cineworld and interest from restaurant operators has allowed us to accelerate our plans, and we are excited to be working with the Council to enhance the city centre."

Drake Circus Leisure will create 350 permanent jobs for local people, in addition to a number of temporary construction jobs, and will be a great benefit to the city's night time economy.

Mark Lowry, Cabinet member for Finance and Assets, said: "The amount of work that goes into making these developments happen is huge. There's a real sense of progress on this scheme which will help transform this part of Plymouth and offer more choice for people looking to spend their time and money on Plymouth's city centre."

Construction work is expected to start in summer 2016 and the scheme is due to open mid-2018.

Under the Development Agreement with the Council, British Land will commit £2m to the construction of the city's new coach station on Mayflower Street.