WEYMOUTH and Portland's economy will get an £11 million annual boost once the Pavilion and ferry terminal scheme is finished, developer Howard Holdings claimed today They commissioned Bournemouth University to carry out an economic impact study on the £120 million redevelopment.

It concluded that the new-look peninsula was likely to generate more than £11.3 million a year for the town's troubled economy.

The scheme on the 10-acre site could include 345 luxury flats, a high quality 120-150 bed hotel, a marina of up to 150 berths and bar bistros, restaurants and retail outlets around a public square.

It could also include a completely remodelled Pavilion Theatre complex, a new ferry terminal, 400 parking spaces and a new World Heritage Site visitor centre.

The study claimed that more than 400 extra jobs would be generated by the completed development over and above jobs generated during construction.

Up to 167,000 extra day visitors and 130,000 overnight stays could be generated for tourism, said the study.

Authors of the report added that the figures represented extra visitors not those displaced from other locations within the town.

But sceptics and opponents said they would be taking the study "with a big pinch of salt".