PLANS for a boutique-style cinema in Colchester have finally been submitted, two-and-a-half years after the idea was first mooted.

Curzon has now applied to transform the derelict former Keddies department store based in Roman House, Queen Street, into a three-screen cinema.

As part of the plans, two spaces for restaurants will be created on the ground floor, while the auditoriums will be housed upstairs.

The proposal for the cinema to move into the building was first announced in 2013 with a proposed opening date of early last year, but a succession of legal problems have meant the project was delayed.

It is hoped the move will cement that part of town as Colchester’s creative quarter close to the new creative business centre, Firstsite and the Minories.

Colchester Council exchanged contracts on the leasehold of the building with Curzon in December 2015.

Curzon currently has 11 cinemas in the country, with seven of them based in London, with the proposed Colchester venue set to be the first in the East.

Simon Blaxill, a director of community interest company Colchester Presents, which has been set up to strengthen Colchester town centre, welcomed the news.

He said: “My understanding is the Curzon will show less mainstream films which means it will be attracting a slightly different audience to something like the Odeon.

“Hopefully it can attract visitors from the town and further afield who may then become regular visitors to Colchester.

“That part of town is becoming Colchester’ arts quarter.

“It is an area of Colchester which needs investment and can only be good news.”

In order to create the new venue, a huge structural revamp of the building has been planned with all of the internal walls removed and the ground floor split into three separate units for restaurants and access to the cinema.

A section of the second floor will have to be replaced to create a double-height first floor suitable for a cinema.

The existing roof will be removed while a metal clad framework will be used to wrap around the building.

The plans will still have to be rubber stamped by Colchester Council’s planning committee with a decision due before July 26.