Plans for a £50 million transformation of Farnworth's market precinct, which will put the town on the map, have been formally submitted to Bolton Council.

The project is lead by Capital and Centric who propose to build around 220 new homes and 3,200 square meters of commercial space that they say will transform the town with new leisure, commercial, and cultural space.

Within this will be cafes, a 'mini-cinema', gym and spaces for the local community to create events and clubs.

A new park connecting the new site and Farnworth Central Park is also part of the plans.

This formal submission of the plans follows a public consultation with the community where over 84 per cent of residents expressed their support for the new vision to develop the market precinct.

Tim Heatley, co-founder of Capital and Centric said: "We were made up with the mega positive feedback we had from the local community. There’s a real buzz and excitement around what we’re looking to do.

"We had loads of ideas on the sort of things we should be including, from healthy delis, food and culture pop-ups, to a mini-cinema, gym and space for the local community to curate events and clubs.

"It’s ambitious projects like this that will transform town centres across the region. This is about rebooting the market town, with bold architecture, awesome homes, and spaces for events and creatives that will draw people in.

"It’ll be a new destination for people to live, work and hang out and will put Farnworth on the map."

Deputy leader of Bolton Council and cabinet member for regeneration, Cllr Martyn Cox, added: "We were pleased with the overwhelmingly positive response from Farnworth residents, stakeholders and businesses on Capital and Centric’s plans to transform the former Farnworth market precinct into a thriving new mixed-use community.

"We believe this development meets the needs of the local community and visitors while transforming and stimulating long-term economic growth for both Farnworth and the wider borough.

"Bolton Council’s intervention in master planning the district centre and purchasing the shopping centre will allow this transformation and redevelopment to go ahead and respond positively to the community’s previous frustrations that investment and development was not happening quick enough for Farnworth."

The application is set to be decided on by the council this summer.