A stadium which would provide a new home for the Cornish Pirates rugby club is a step closer to being built after Cornwall Council agreed a £3m funding package for the £14.3m project.

Planning permission for the 6,000-capacity, multi-sport Stadium for Cornwall has already been granted in Threemilestone near Truro.

As well as a home for the Pirates, the stadium will also host Truro City Football Club and a wide range of regional events.

Facilities at the stadium are set to include a health club, operated by management company GLL, and conference facilities.

Bob Egerton, Cornwall Council cabinet member for planning and economy, said: “This decision recognises the wider benefits that a Stadium for Cornwall will bring to the whole of Cornwall.

"This is money that is set aside to support infrastructure to help grow the wider economy of Cornwall - it is not money that we are in any way diverting from delivering day to day services.”

The council will now look to secure a further £3m towards the project from the central government.

In January 2018, the three partners leading the Stadium for Cornwall project – Truro and Penwith College, Cornish Pirates and Truro City Football Club – made a request to Cornwall Council for up to £6m of capital funding to add to the £8m already raised by the private sector for the £14.3m development.

The partners will also be establishing a community sports fund, to be administered by the Cornwall Sports Partnership, to improve sports facilities across Cornwall.

If the bid to secure the remaining £3m is successful, the stadium could be built in time for the 2019-20 rugby and football seasons.