Buttermarket shopping centre 16-screen cinema plan

Image caption The Buttermarket has had vacant space since department store Allders closed in 2005

The new owners of an Ipswich shopping centre have reopened plans to create a cinema but with more screens.

The Vue chain was granted planning permission in 2012 to build a nine-screen venue in the Buttermarket but abandoned its plans in February.

The whole shopping centre was bought for £9.2m by two property developers last month.

Their new plans, submitted to Ipswich Borough Council, also include six restaurants.

Image copyright Cornerstone

Image caption Vue abandoned plans for a nine-screen cinema on the top floor of the shopping centre

The Buttermarket Shopping Centre, which opened in 1992, was bought by Capital & Regional and Drum Property Group from PR Ipswich Ltd.

Hugh Scott-Barrett, chief executive of Capital & Regional, said: "We believe our proposals will revitalise not just Buttermarket Shopping Centre but Ipswich town centre as a whole, by introducing a tailored mix of retail and leisure facilities."

If planning permission were granted for the extra screens, the owners would seek a cinema operator and national restaurant and retail chains to develop the project further.

"We have a real opportunity to develop Buttermarket into a vibrant shopping centre everyone can be proud of," he said.