Vale of Glamorgan Council will receive a £1.5 million cash injection after leasing land in Hensol for Cardiff City Football Club to build a new training base.

Planning permission was approved for the development, which will involve the construction of 15 pitches in a 44-acre area opposite Hensol Villas.

Another application has been approved for a two-storey central building, containing a gym, pool, treatment and dining rooms and a 123-space car park.

There would also be spectator terraces to view the first team pitches to the west of the training ground and for academy fields to the east.

The significant financial sum is a major boost for the Council as it looks to overcome a challenging budgetary situation caused largely by reduced funding alongside energy, inflation and interest rate spikes.

One £500,000 instalment has already been received, with another due when work starts and another when the development is completed.

Cllr Lis Burnett, Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council said: "This project has been in the pipeline for a number of years, so I'm delighted that we have now reached agreement over the lease of the land.

"It will offer Cardiff City the opportunity to build a state-of-the-art facility which can benefit its first and youth teams.

"For the Council, the sizeable income this agreement brings is most welcome at a time when Local Authorities across the Country are finding it increasingly difficult to balance the books.

"We must look for efficiency savings, creative and innovative new ways of working and also be commercially savvy when it comes to striking business deals. This perfectly illustrates the last of those approaches."