London mayor Boris Johnson has signed off £1.5bn plans for the regeneration of Elephant & Castle in the city's southeast, providing new leisure and community facilities, thousands of new homes, and shops and offices.

The plans, submitted by Southwark Council's development partner Lend Lease, will see 23 acres of Heygate Estate demolished and redeveloped, creating 5,000 construction jobs and a further 1,255 permanent jobs once the transformation is complete.

The mayor has already committed significant funding for transport improvements in the area, including to the northern roundabout, the tube station and to cycling safety in the area.

The project is one of a number planned for the borough, which together will create 5,000 new homes.

Others will include 360 London, One The Elephant, and Tribeca Square, which the mayor's office said would make the area a key destination for leisure and shopping.

Johnson said: "It is vital that we push forward with work to unlock the massive economic potential of the Elephant and Castle area which has languished in a no-man's land for too many years."