Part of the massive leisure complex in Yeovil opened its doors on Good Friday, prompting a leading councillor to declare: "God times lie ahead for Yeovil."

Members of the public were able to get a taste of what is to come as Bowlplex was first out of the starting blocks.

Other attractions, such as a multi-screen cinema, a fitness club and restaurants are not far behind, and will start trading in the near future.

A district council spokesman said all buildings are completed, which means it is now a matter of finishing off internal fittings.

The only controversial issue is the actual name of the development.

A competition was held some time ago, and a member was given a prize for coming up with Yeovale Leisure Centre or Park - but The Tonstate Group (which has come onboard with "forward funding") appears to prefer Yeo Leisure Park.

A council spokesman said signage suggested that individual businesses appeared to have gone for either Yeo or Yeovale while Tonstate's agent said he needed to double check exactly what the name is supposed to be.

As for the opening of other attractions, it is understood that the cinema aims to open on April 19th, with the official opening of the whole complex being planned for Saturday June 1st.

It was on December 22nd in 1999 that South Somerset District Council exchanged contracts to sell the site to Greenbrook Properties in conjunction with Capital and Regional Properties plc.

The exchange was announced when members of local media were invited to council headquarters on Brympton Way on January 4th the following year.

The project was hailed as the biggest for Yeovil since plans for Quedam Shopping Centre were revealed in the 80s.

It was hoped that work would start in April 2000 and be completed no later than April last year - but some contractual details took longer to sort out than anticipated.

Not surprisingly, the complex became a political target, with then Tory prospective parliamentary candidate Marco Forgione using the announcement as a platform for his first attack of the new millennium on the Lib Dem-dominated council, saying the centre was in the wrong location and on land that had been sold too cheaply.

Members of the public and traders complained that the loss of parking spaces would badly affect trade, and predicted that work at the site would make worse an already chaotic traffic situation.

The council agreed there would be traffic problems from day one but urged people to be patient and wait for the long-term benefits of the project.

Councillor Tony Fife said last week the council is seeing hard evidence that the centre is fulfilling the aims of regenerating the eastern side of Yeovil.

"The fact that the scheme was coming under construction actually stimulated commercial and retail activity with a variety of investment that we believe would not have happened had it not been for the development commitment.

"On site construction provided employment for a number of local companies, and many more local job opportunities have come to fruition with recruitment of local people by a variety of leisure centre businesses."

Cllr Fife also said the future could see further development, including hotels in the area, concluding: "Good times lie ahead. I believe the best is yet to come."