SOUTHAMPTON'S planned £5m flagship healthy living centre is in jeopardy after the developer pulled out.

Work was due to start on the groundbreaking project next month - but student accommodation builders Unite suddenly pulled the plug on the scheme.

The company has blamed the complex nature of the deal with the City Council and health bosses.

It is a blow to civic bosses who were depending on cash raised by the sale of land to Unite to pay for the revolutionary centre.

However, they are determined to press ahead with the beleaguered project.

David Bennett, spokesman for Southampton City Council, said: "We are making it our top priority to ensure that a new developer or a suitable alternative is found."

Unite was due to buy a piece of land opposite St Mary's Leisure Centre in St Mary's Road and build a block of 552 flats for students and key workers.

Cash from the sale was going to pay for a state-of-the-art healthy living centre on the ground floor of the 13-storey tower block.

It was hoped it would redress a healthcare imbalance in the area.

The centre would have a GP and dental surgery, with other rooms for dietary advice clinics, physiotherapy and quit smoking sessions.

More money would be ploughed into St Mary's Leisure Ventre, refurbishing the sports hall, badminton courts, squash facilities and creating a 30-station weight and fitness room with dance studio.

Extensive public consultation was carried out, and managers from Unite even met with St Mary's residents to reassure them about the development.

Now the future of the scheme is in jeopardy.

Unite spokeswoman Amanda Williams said: "We've already invested more than £40m into Southampton, however this scheme is a particularly complex deal with three parties involved.

"Although we hope that the plans can still go ahead, as a business we've had to review the timescale of the delivery of the scheme and naturally we wanted to keep our other partners informed."

She added: "We are working with all the partners to try to ensure a healthy living outcome for the area and we will be able to provide more details once this has been worked out further."

A spokeswoman for Southampton Primary Care Trust said they were "bitterly disappointed" that Unite had pulled out.

Jane Pearson, Southampton City Council's development and regeneration manager, added: "This has thrown us into a bit of a state. It came out of the blue. However, we are looking very carefully at the number of other possibilities to ensure we deliver the healthy living centre."