Plans to build a £25m rugby stadium in St Helens, Merseyside, is due to receive approval from the Government Office for the North West this month following unanimous support from the St Helens Council Planning Committee.

Langtree, the project’s developer and the site’s owner, proposes to construct an 18,000-capacity stadium with mixed seating and standing facilities, to replace the existing home for the St Helens Rugby League Club as part of regeneration plans for the town.

In order for the project to go ahead, three planning applications must be approved to assure funding. These include, as well as the stadium plans, a Tesco Extra on the same site and a 192-home development by Taylor Wimpy, which will be built on the existing stadium site.

St Helens council leader Brian Spencer, says: “The development will bring a range of benefits, not just to our town but to the region in general, bringing massive investment and jobs.”

In conjunction with the sale of units from the residential development and land to Tesco, there will be funds from the council, the North West Development Agency, the rugby club and Langtree, which is donating the 46-acre site.

As part of the Tesco development, the existing branch on Chalon Way will be redeveloped into retail outlets to help further regenerate the area.

Pending a decision from the government, the stadium is expected to open late 2010.