Coventry City Council has given the go-ahead to a new 10-acre development on the former site of one of the city’s most famous car manufacturers.

The Daimler ground in Radford will be converted into a major residential area with an estimated 500 new homes and a main shopping street.

There are currently several sporting facilities at the venue including a sports and bowling club, and council planning officer Rowan Reid is adamant these will be preserved.

He said:

"These facilities are currently owned by Jaguar Daimler but we have made provision for a trust to be set up to ensure that they are kept running despite the development.

"The Urban Regeneration Agency, who were formerly English Partnerships, has been given outline planning consent for the site but the final permission is subject to them meeting some agreed conditions.

"It will be like a small town of its own, with a shopping development forming a parade and all the other facilities like the sports ground and a health centre."

The Urban Regeneration Agency has submitted a ‘master plan’ to the council planning office, which includes the conversion of the Radford fire station into a restaurant, although Reid admits this is not final.

"That plan is still included at the moment but it is very much subject to change and to how feasible it proves to be.

"The main things that will need to be looked at are the vehicle access routes which will run off Sandy Lane, and there will also be access of Ludgate Road and Middlemarch Road but they will just be residential."

And although Reid did not have a start date for the project he admitted that the developers were keen to commence.