A NEW £200m leisure and entertainment park could be built in Speke, creating 300 jobs.

The development is being proposed for a 50-acre site currently home to a vehicle storage yard next to the New Mersey Retail Park on Speke Road.

Belfast-based developer Benmore Group wants to create a leisure destination featuring a multi-screen cinema, restaurants, a gym and hotels.

It is understood the company already has a number of tenants lined up to take space in the development.

It is hoped the scheme would complement the existing shops at the next door retail park.

It would lead to the creation of some 300 jobs and could be open by the middle of 2012.

It is expected that a further 500 people would be employed during the construction phase.

The £200m plan is envisaged to be the first of three stages of development, and a public consultation on the project starts tomorrow.

The development site is currently used by Jaguar for car storage, but was bought by Benmore a number of years ago.

Benmore anticipates that it will submit a planning application – the first phase in detail and subsequent phases in outline – during the summer with a possibility that it could be determined by Liverpool City Council’s planning committee before the end of the year.

Benmore Group has assets in excess of £1bn in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast.

Last year the company completed the largest private sector letting in Northern Ireland to the New York Stock Exchange. That deal saw 60,000 sq ft let and 400 jobs created by America’s principal stockmarket.

The company also has plans to create a hotel in the historic Pioneer Buildings in Liverpool city centre’s Dale Street.