Work is due to start on the long awaited £100 million redevelopment of Charter Place on Monday.

After more than a decade of false starts, visitors to the town centre will finally see intu Watford's plans to completely rebuild the site into a modern shopping and leisure hub - including nine-screen IMAX cinema - take shape.

The process of demolishing the old shopping centre in High Street is expected to last for up to four months, with the first stage next week to remove all benches, litter bins, paving slabs and cycle racks from the area and send them to be used elsewhere.

The new building will house up to 16 shops, 10 restaurants and a nine-screen IMAX cinema.

A public square will also be created that will host an events programme, including street art and music shows.

Elected Mayor of Watford Dorothy Thornhill said the project will create 1,900 jobs.

She said: "Despite the scale of work, disturbance to local business will be kept to an absolute minimum.

"The project will help make Watford future-proof, so our town remains the wealthy and prosperous place it is today.

"Our town has fared exceptionally well through the recession and is now in a very strong place commercially as the economy gathers speed."

The intu Watford extension project is the largest to have happened at the shopping centre since Charter Place opened in 1976.

In the past year shops and Watford Market, which were located in Charter Place, have been moved out to make way for the 1.4 million sq ft shopping and leisure centre.

It is being funded by intu – which acquired the site from Watford Borough Council in 2013, after 12 years of misfires.

Capital Shopping Centres was the first company to take up the project in 2003 but was dismissed five years later after the council could not agree any of its plans.

The next developer appointed, London & Regional, pulled out of the scheme in 2011, saying the project was no longer “a core business requirement.”

A third company, Henry Boot, was kicked off the project and paid more than £500,000 compensation in 2012 after Capital Shopping Centres - which rebranded itself to intu in 2013 - indicated it was interested in the scheme again.

Cllr Mark Watkin, who is responsible for finance, said: "Working in partnership with intu, we have planned this transformation very carefully.

"This is why so many shops have been closing down recently.

"People will see hoarding going up in the town centre, but for the most part it will be business as usual.

"Watford has a thriving economy being a prime location for business, industry and shopping.

"It is already a successful commercial hub and popular place for people to live, work and visit and the Charter Place redevelopment project will add to this."