Work is scheduled to begin shortly on a four-acre entertainment development in the Thames Gateway featuring a visitor attraction based on the works of Charles Dickens.

The £60m complex, which will also feature a nine-screen Odeon multiplex and a variety of restaurants and bars, aims to recreate life in the time in which Dickens lived, said the development’s chief executive, Kevin Christie.

“We aim to create an authentic world in which Dickens may have lived and drawn inspiration for his work,” he said. “We are not trying to create a theme park, but a family day out with rides and entertainment.”

The experience will boast Victorian architecture including archways, cobbled streets and introduce guests to Dickens’ characters.

Each Christmas it will be transformed into a winter Wonderland.

The attraction will be situated at the South East England Development Agency’s (SEEDA) flagship Chatham Maritime site and adjacent to a factory outlet retail development which attracts three million shoppers per year.

The initial concept for Dickens World was created by theme park designer Gerry O’Sullivan-Beare, with London-based Kemp Muir Wealleans architects designing the shell and core and Pinewood-based RMA managing the attraction’s interior fit-out.

Christie said he hopes the attraction will see around 300,000 visitors per year.

Dickens World is being entirely funded by a speculative syndicate. The multiplex, bars and restaurants are expected to open in October 2006, with Dickens World completed by April 2007.