Plans to transform a bus station in Hinckley, Leicestershire, into a mixed-use leisure complex have taken a step forward after the local authority secured a development agreement with the Tin Hat Regeneration Partnership (THRP).

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council (HBBC) has now legally committed to the redevelopment of the site, which will feature the town's first multiplex cinema, restaurants, a new food store and retail outlets. A planning application for the £75m Crescent scheme is expected to be submitted by spring 2010, and it is anticipated that THRP - comprising Wilson Bowden Developments and Centenary Ashcroft - will commence construction work in 2012.

Bill Cullen, deputy chief executive of HBBC, said: "I am pleased with the level of progress that we have achieved with our development partners to get the scheme to this stage, particularly given the challenges of the current economic down turn. "While this has led to all parties having to consider the implications for the scheme, a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to bring it to this key stage. This gives us confidence that we will have a fantastic and vibrant mixed use leisure and retail complex that the town can be proud of in years to come."