UP TO 30 start-up businesses will be at the core of a multi-million pound science facility in Oxford city centre.

A new 25,000 sq ft Oxford Centre for Innovation is to be created at Macclesfield House in New Road, the former council building set to be transformed into a £30m science attraction by 2015.

The Centre for Innovation, which will boast interactive galleries and a digital planetarium, is expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors a year.

Science Oxford, the charity behind the development, scheme, is taking over the former Oxfordshire County Council education department, next to the Castle Mound.

Companies and entrepreneurs are already queuing up for the centre to open on March 1, and it is set to create 120 jobs in its first year.

Chris Allington, managing director of the organisation which will run the innovation centre, said: “Our aim is for this to become a focal point for innovation and enterprise in the city and a generator of local employment.

“There has been strong interest in the range of offices and workspace we can offer and several companies are scheduled to move in during March and April.”

Science Oxford chief executive Dr Ian Griffin said: “Innovative, early stage companies are more crucial than ever to our economy.

“At Oxford Centre for Innovation, they will benefit from a supportive environment with access to the funding and advice they need to help them to grow.”