Millions of pounds of public money could be ploughed into the regeneration of Sittingbourne in one of the biggest commercial deals ever entered into by Swale council.

The authority is planning to borrow up to £28 million to spend on the Spirit of Sittingbourne project, resulting in it owning the majority of the new buildings planned for the town centre.

Under the plans, it would own and receive rental income of an estimated £2.1 million a year from a multiplex cinema, four restaurants, a hotel and three retail units.

The bold move was unveiled this week by Tory cabinet member for finance Cllr Duncan Dewar-Whalley who said it was the start of the council's plan to become self-sufficient in terms of funding.

In March, it was agreed the authority could borrow up to £30 million so it could take advantage of any investment opportunities.

Cllr Dewar-Whalley said it went against his usual "Scrooge" approach but was a "calculated step" that would yield a good return from rental payments to spend on council services.

A chance to invest in Sittingbourne's regeneration came up over the summer, he said, with the Spirit of Sittingbourne consortium due to approach potential investors for funding. Instead, the council has offered to step in.

"We suddenly realised we could get ourselves more involved with the project," Cllr Dewar-Whalley said. "The door suddenly opened. This could be a kick-start for our strategy of becoming self sufficient."

The Spirit of Sittingbourne project is running behind schedule, with planning permission yet to be signed off despite being agreed by the council's planning committee last March.

As well as buying the leisure and retail buildings, the council is also planning to spend £2.2 million on changes to the road layout and £500,000 on demolishing the former Princes Street depot.

The Light Experience is due to operate the cinema, Travelodge is the hotel firm, and Wildwood and Pizza Express are to fill two of the four restaurant units.

A Costa drive-through, Home Bargains and Iceland's Food Warehouse are due to occupy the new units planned for the Princes Street depot off Eurolink Way.

Opposition groups have accused the Conservatives of taking a big risk with public funds.

Labour group leader on Swale, Cllr Roger Truelove, said it was no surprise the money was being spent on the regeneration project.

"It has been obvious since March, when they introduced an emergency funding provision of £30 million, that Swale was getting ready to rescue this scheme.

"The developers, in spite of all the fanfare and hype, have always known, as we in the Labour Party have repeatedly said, that this project is of dubious commercial viability.

"The Conservatives are now prepared to take a major financial risk. The assumptions about income are based on the presumed profitability of a multi-screen cinema and restaurants, plus a hotel and retail units.

"Based on inevitable uncertainty about the general economy plus widely held doubts about the demand for these facilities, Labour does not believe the risks are justified."

Cllr Mike Baldock, leader of the Ukip group on Swale, said the council should have been upfront about why it had agreed to allow large-scale borrowing in the first place.

"They're going to bail out their own development. Why couldn't they have been honest?

"It puts the public purse at an awful lot of risk. They need to go back now and think is this what is going to regenerate the High Street?" - Cllr Mike Baldock (Ukip)

"Everyone knew it was going to be a bail out for Spirit of Sittingbourne.

"The whole viability of this project was becoming so unrealistic and it's taken the council to step in and save its own backside.

"It puts the public purse at an awful lot of risk. They need to go back now and think is this what is going to regenerate the High Street?

"People wanted a bowling alley, sports hall, concert hall.

"Do we have the research that says we are going to spend £30million and this is what the people of Sittingbourne want to see?"

The proposal to borrow up to £28 million is due to go before the council's Cabinet on Wednesday, November 9.