AFTER years of delays and confusion, work will finally start this year on a major refurbishment and development of York's Barbican Centre.

Operator Absolute Leisure says it will be ready this month or early February to begin the multi-million pound project, which will involve the construction of new bars and restaurants along the front of the building as well as a revamp of the auditorium.

A spokeswoman said that the work was scheduled to finish by the end of the summer, allowing the centre to re-open in time for an autumn of concerts, events and other activities, including the Royal British Legion's Festival Of Remembrance, a community carol concert and the UK Snooker Tournament.

In 2004, the company said that after the revamp, it also planned an expansion of activities at the centre, including Comedy Store evenings twice a week, playing to an audience of between 400 and 600 in a reduced size auditorium and attracting headline entertainers to complement the Barbican's established calendar of events. It stressed the auditorium would keep its existing 1,500 capacity for larger events and concerts, but would also be used for seminars, conferences and dances, as well as smaller concerts and local events.

Managing director Tony Knox said the company planned to build on the centre's old capacity of about 80 events a year, bringing more acts and bigger names in.

The Save Our Barbican (SOB) campaign has repeatedly criticised the council's sell-off of the Barbican, claiming it will end up being turned into a nightclub by Absolute Leisure, causing disruption and noise for local residents.

The refurbishment was originally intended to take place in 2004 or 2005 as part of a redevelopment of the whole Barbican site, including the car park and a bowling green, where hundreds of apartments and a new hotel are planned by developer Barbican Venture (York) Ltd.

However, that part of the scheme became snarled up in planning and legal challenges by SOB, and Absolute Leisure won permission earlier this year to carry out its scheme separately to the rest of the redevelopment.

News that the work is about to start comes just over a year after City of York Council handed over the keys to the centre.

The company signed two contracts with the council at that time - the first allowing it to run the centre immediately, the second relating to its acquisition of the complex on a 250-year lease.