Demolition starts on Harrogate Beales department store

Developers said the four-screen cinema development could "add to the overall attraction of Harrogate"

Demolition of a department store in a North Yorkshire town, which could make way for a £10m cinema and restaurant complex, has begun.

The Beales store, on Station Parade and Albert Road in Harrogate, closed in September.

Harrogate Borough Council approved plans for its demolition earlier this year.

4Urban Consulting Ltd, which bought the building in 2009, said the development could create up to 250 jobs.

The new project, which is yet to be approved, could "add considerably to the overall attraction of Harrogate", the company said.

The 1950s building is to be replaced with one "in sympathy" with the Victorian architecture of the town centre and the Victorian buildings on Albert Street that make up part of the site are to be retained.

No operator for the planned cinema has been announced.

Beales department store was in the former Co-operative building, which dated from the 1950s