WORK is continuing to gather pace on the £14 million redevelopment of the Market Place Shopping Centre in Bolton town centre.

The project, expected to be completed at the end of the year, will eventually see a new cinema on the site as well as bars and restaurants lining the revamped Victoria vaults beneath the centre.

A full refurbishment is also taking place within the upper levels of the current centre and the latest development involves two escalators linking up to a newly formed bridge.

Tim Vaughan is the chief executive of the Moorgarth Group, which owns the Market Place.

He said the latest work is helping to show local people the overall scale of the project, adding: "It is important to show that it is not just about the cinema or the vaults, it is the entire centre that is being refurbished.

"We always planned to retain the current escalators but to turn them around to reach the new bridge, this will improve the circulation for people moving around the first floor.

"This is the first phase and there will eventually be escalators going down into the vaults when the basement is ready to be exposed."

The next move for the contractors will be to install a giant screen in the space above the bridge.

Work on the cinema is expected to begin in earnest on Monday, although Mr Vaughan said there has been plenty going on behind the scenes.

He said: "Preparations have been ongoing for six months and we are currently bringing in a large power crane which will fit the steel structures for the cinema."