A NEW £23million leisure and restaurant development key to regenerating an East Lancashire town centre has been completed.

Now tenants are now fitting out and opening up at Burnley's flagship Pioneer Place scheme.

Already the Icaro Lounge has opened its doors with other businesses to follow soon.

Eric Wright Construction has now handed over the Curzon Street complex to Burnley Council following completion of the building work.

The £23 million scheme has attracted tenants including Loungers (owners of the Icaro Lounge), Nando’s and Starbucks to go with its anchor tenant by a seven-screen REEL Cinema and its 226-space car park.

Deals with two further food and beverage operators are going through legal agreements and will complete the line-up at Pioneer Place.

Fit-out programmes have now commenced with each of the committed occupiers looking to open in late summer.

Jeremy Hartley, the Eric Wright Group's managing director, said: “Pioneer Place is a significant regeneration project which will benefit the people of Burnley and the wider Lancashire area.

"It’s a place where people will want to come and spend time for years to come and we’re incredibly honoured to have played such a fundamental role in its creation.

“This is one of a multitude of placemaking town centre schemes we as a business have been involved in across Lancashire.

"The leisure and retail sector has experienced a huge amount of change over the last few years and I couldn’t be more proud of the way in which our teams have worked so collaboratively to ensure that these projects were delivered.”

Burnley Council's growth boss Cllr Mark Townsend said: "This good news. The first tenant, the Icaro Lounge, has already opened and other are fitting out ready to open,

"These are exciting times."

Pioneer Place secured funding from Burnley Borough Council and Lancashire County Council, the Government’s Getting Building Fund administered by Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP), and fashion company and the borough’s largest employer, boohoo.

The project team includes AEW Architects, structural engineer, Both King Partnership and planning consultant Smith Love.