Plans for a new National Film Centre on London's South Bank have received the go ahead after both the government and London mayor Boris Johnson approved funding for the scheme.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown confirmed that the British Film Institute (BFI) will receive £45m from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to help fund the scheme, as well as £5m from the London Development Agency (LDA). The new £166m National Film Centre will boast five cinema screens showcasing the best of British and world cinema, as well as providing space for study, cultural events, exhibitions and research.

Plans also include the exchange of programmes and knowledge with a range of partners across the UK, which will draw on and update the BFI National Archive, as well as utilising regional archives and the Mediatheque network. BFI director Amanda Nevill said: "We will be creating something that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world, precisely because we can. It will build on the BFI's 75 year legacy, bringing together the greatest collections of film on earth with all the excitement and stimulation of emerging cinema into the most creative and inclusive programmes.

"It will be a digital hub, working with partners across the UK to share and exchange those programmes. We are a step closer in our ambition to inspire and excite audiences everywhere in a new digital Britain." Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "These are challenging economic times but with backing from the public and private sector, the commitment to the new BFI National Film Centre demonstrates the government's continuing support for the arts in Britain, and our determination to invest in leading creative industries as part of our economic recovery."

London mayor Boris Johnson added: "It is vitally important to continue funding the arts industry during this challenging economic climate. We will be providing £5 million towards the development of this long-needed centre, which will not only serve current film buffs, but will ensure the BFI is equipped to remain at the vanguard of film, past, present and into the future." Meanwhile, the government has also confirmed plans to invest £10m in the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre in Wiltshire; £50m to help fund the extension of the Tate Modern; £22.5m towards a new World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre at the British Museum and £33m for the creation of new premises to house the British Library's newspaper archive in Yorkshire.

Image: BFI IMAX cinema in Waterloo