Gloucester city centre £200m regeneration is 'well under way'

The Forum will feature a hotel, shops, bars, restaurants and a cyber business hub

The £200m regeneration of Gloucester city centre is "well under way", councillors have said.

Civic chiefs say The Forum, the city's new £107m business hub, will play a vital role in attracting new investment and transforming the city.

Under the plans the University of Gloucestershire is redeveloping the former Debenhams store.

Gloucester City Council is also revamping Kings Square and King's Walk Shopping Centre.

The Forum will also include a hotel, rooftop bar, a gym, a multi-storey car park and 135,000 sq ft of office space aimed at attracting cyber businesses.

The city council hopes the new project could bring more than 1,000 new jobs to Gloucester

Council leader, Richard Cook, said: "We've done a lot in the city centre - it's not easy.

"Everything costs a lot of money and it's challenging in these difficult times, but in terms of capital investment, we've done relatively well.

"We now demonstrate to the people in Gloucester and others in Cheltenham that we are outshining everyone else in the South West at the moment."

Gloucester MP Richard Graham said the city has faced its challenges but believes the key to its current success has been the willingness of all partners to work together.

"We haven't had non-stop successes, we've had some setbacks. There will always be projects still to do and things we need to work on," said Mr Graham.

Esther Croft, development director, said the regeneration of Gloucester is generating a lot of interest across the UK with authorities from the South West and South East visiting the site.

The project is expected to be completed in 2024, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.