Dorset planners are being asked to sign off the final details of a 76-home retirement complex for Poundbury.

The project is expected to create in excess of 50 full-time jobs once completed.

The massive continuing care scheme, over several blocks and including bungalow homes, is on the Crown Gate site in the north east quarter running along the top edge of the Great Field and south of Poundbury Road. It was first agreed in February 2018.

Dorset Council's planning team has been working with the developers since the scheme was first approved and planners are now being asked to agree all of the final details so that work can start.

The retirement community scheme is spread over nine blocks between one and four storeys with a communal block which will include a reception area, café/bistro, bar, servery, multipurpose activity room and a library and reading room. The application says the communal block will be open to local people.

The scheme, available to people over the age of 60, is being created by Liberty Retirement Living (Poundbury) which has a London office address and is part of the larger Places for People group.

Company documents say that their model for retirement living with care and support is a move away from the traditional care home and aims to maintain people's independence yet is able to offer 24-hour emergency cover with flexible care services, where needed, on a day to day basis.

Details of the scheme, which runs to more than a hundred pages, are available to view and comment on via the Dorset Council website.

Planners are being asked to approve details of layout, landscape, materials, access and roads.

The deadline for public comment on the detail of the proposals is February 16.