Wolverhampton Jaguar Land Rover plant approved

Three councils have been involved in a bid to attract JLR to the site

Plans to build a £350m Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) facility near Wolverhampton have been given the go-ahead by South Staffordshire Council.

JLR has said it was creating up to 750 jobs at a site on the Staffordshire-Wolverhampton border.

The luxury carmaker, owned by Indian firm Tata, is investing to build low-emission engines.

The council said it was thought work to prepare the site at the i54 business park near the M54 may start in January.

JLR has said it expected the facility to create up to 750 engineering and manufacturing posts, along with hundreds more jobs in the supply chain and the wider UK economy.

Factory saved

Councillors in South Staffordshire backed the proposals on Tuesday evening after plans were submitted in October.

South Staffordshire Council said the bid to attract JLR to the i54 site was jointly made by itself, Staffordshire County Council and Wolverhampton City Council.

It added Staffordshire County and Wolverhampton City councils would now embark on a project to construct a new slip road off the M54 at junction 2, which would serve the i54 site.

Both councils were investing about £20m into the scheme.

Last year JLR said it was reversing a decision to close one of its two West Midlands factories.

The group, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire, produces Land Rovers in two plants in Solihull in the West Midlands and in Halewood in Merseyside, while Jaguar models are produced at the Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham.

Councillor Brian Cox, chairman of South Staffordshire Council's regulatory committee, said: "It is a very important project and one which will benefit the entire region for years to come."