EXCITING plans to invest £100 million into Merry Hill can only be good news for Brierley Hill according to Dudley South MP Mike Wood.

The Conservative MP had a sneak peek at designs for the intu centre's proposed new leisure complex, which looks set to include one of the biggest Odeon cinemas in the country.

In a bid to make the retail, food and leisure offerings more accessible for visitors, intu has purchased the building which houses the existing Odeon and plans to relocate the cinema to space currently being used as a service yard behind Halfords, and surround it with new restaurants.

Mr Wood said he was impressed with the plans and said the new development would "form a nice square with the food quarter on one side and Debenhams on the other".

He continued: "There will be roof top patios and an open-air eating area, all centred around a new improved, enlarged Odeon cinema, which Odeon say is going to be one of their biggest in the country.

"It all looks great and I think it’s going to make a big difference to Merry Hill. It’s transforming a part of the shopping centre that is currently only used for service vehicles.

“It’s going to be a great place to eat, shop and spend leisure time and I’m looking forward to the new jobs that are going to be created as a result."

Mr Wood added: "This shows how seriously intu take Merry Hill, the amount they are investing can only be good news for our community."

Since intu took full ownership of the centre last year, new brands have been added to the retail mix and existing tenants have invested in additional space and refreshed their stores and general manager, Dan Murphy, said it was hoped the latest plans would "embed intu Merry Hill as a prime regional destination".