The commencement of works on the £70m Queen's Parade project in Bangor, County Down, have been welcomed by Northern Ireland Communities Minister, Gordon Lyons.

The landmark project will deliver new homes, a hotel, offices, a market plaza, retail, cafes and restaurants, reconnecting the city to Bangor Waterfront.

Minister Lyons noted the "hugely complex" project will be "transformational" for Bangor, and its wider community, and also praised the effort behind the project.

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He said: "I am pleased that work is getting underway on this much awaited project, and I want to again thank all those involved for their hard work over the past weeks and months to get to this stage.

"I know that a huge amount of work is continuing behind the scenes to progress the project at pace."

Initial works, including installation of site cabins on the Marine Gardens site, have commenced. Given the proximity to the upcoming holiday period, and the positive economic boost that tourists and visitors bring to Bangor over those two weeks, Ards and North Down Borough Council and Bangor Marine have worked to ensure that the Marine Gardens Car Park will remain open.

Erection of hoardings and construction of Phase 1, the Public Realm Scheme, are expected to commence over the summer. Bangor Marine will issue a more detailed timeline for their proposals in the coming weeks.