A multi-million pound regeneration project incorporating a new golf course will revitalise several Clydeside towns and create hundreds of jobs.

More than £60million is being invested into the creation of the pay and play' course, with a nearby hotel and holiday homes to be built on Irvine Bay's waterfront.

The Ayrshire, which will be open to the public, will attract thousands of new visitors a year to the area, said Jim Mather, Scottish Government minister for Enterprise Energy and Tourism.

The project will bring a major economic boost for Irvine and its neighbouring towns of Ardrossan, Saltcoats, Stevenston, Irvine and Kilwinning, a region which has lost 35% of its manufacturing jobs in the last five years.

The new development is a joint venture between Australian businessman Brian Keating's KPT Limited and property development firm Credential Holdings.

"The benefits to the area will be massive. Hundreds of jobs will be created in the construction of the hotel alone," said Mr Keating.

"Around 300,000 visitors come to play golf in Ayrshire each year.

"The Danes, French and the Germans are all coming to Scotland in increasing numbers to play golf so The Ayrshire project is perfectly placed."

The new course has been designed by David McLay Kidd, the man behind The Castle course in St Andrews.

The development of The Ayrshire is a major coup for the Irvine Bay Regeneration Company which aims to create the right conditions for private sector investment.

Now IBRC has nominated Credential Holdings and KPT as the preferred developers and work on the project is said to be "imminent".