City councillors will be asked to appoint a team of planning experts to develop Gloucester's Kings Quarter scheme in detail when they hold a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

A report recommends, in line with the public consultation, that the scheme is no longer retail-led but is a mixed use development.

This will include a replacement car park, residential elements, a hotel and bars and restaurants to complement those already in the city centre and the Quays.

The final mix will depend on market demand. Kings Square will be refurbished but will remain as a public space.

The city council is proposing to break the scheme into four blocks and potentially bring it forward on a phased basis. The council will look for developers to help bring forward each of the blocks, but only after having secured a planning consent.

By taking this approach, the council will keep control and will also not "put all of its eggs in one basket."

The report also sets out a timetable for bringing the scheme forward. Demolition of Bentinck House, the former tax office on Bruton Way, will take place after the new bus station opening and work on Kings Square itself will start shortly afterwards, .

Council Leader, Councillor Paul James said, "If there is one development people in Gloucester want to see happen, this is it. The delays of the past have been hugely frustrating and I know people just want us to get on with it.

"This report does take us forward and it sets out a realistic but challenging timetable to deliver the scheme. I am pleased that Kings Square itself is going to be an early phase of the development and, combined with the investment promised from the new owners of the Kings Walk shopping centre, this will mean this area of the city is finally given the transformation it needs.

"The council is in control of what happens now and is not relying on others, so we are in charge of our own destiny here. The revised scheme is about adding to and complementing what already exists in the city centre, not competing with it, enabling us to strengthen the existing core around the gate streets, Kings Walk and Kings Square."