Bolton Wanderers Football Club has been granted outline planning permission to build a £100m sport, education and office development after plans were approved by the local council.

The club announced plans last year to create a new free sports academy, along with retail outlets, 200 apartments, a 60-bedroom hotel and an office block with restaurants and hospitality suites as part of the club’s “Middlebrook Masterplan”.

The plans also include an as-yet unannounced expansion to the Reebok Stadium (soon to be renamed the Macron Stadium).

Councillors approved the plans, despite concerns over other developments being affected, including the nearby Church Wharf regeneration project in Bolton town centre. The project has been overseen by The Environment Partnership (TEP) to provide ecology, landscape and environmental assessment, though at present, no contractors or architects have been named.

"The development would provide much needed investment and employment opportunities together with improvements to education, leisure and wider community facilities in an urban setting and in a sustainable location, all of which is broadly supported by current development plan policy,” said planning officer John Berry.