AJ Bell Stadium: Council plan to lend stadium more funds

Salford City Council said the loan is "necessary"

The company behind Salford's AJ Bell Stadium is to be lent more council funds - in addition to the £25m it has already received.

A loan of £632,000 is set to be granted to City of Salford Community Stadium Ltd by Salford City Council.

The stadium, which is the home of Salford Red Devils and Sale Sharks rugby teams, opened in 2012 with an initial £22m council loan.

The council said the stadium is a "valuable local asset" and employer.

As well as being the home of the top flight rugby league and rugby union clubs, the stadium also has pitches for community use and hosts events such as conferences, weddings and awards dinners.

It has also been used for filming, including an advert with Manchester United's Paul Pogba.

A further £632,000 loan is to be provided by Peel Holdings, the council's joint venture partner on the stadium.

The council said the financial support is "necessary" and without it the company would default on its existing loan to the council.

Last month, the council said it had made loans to the stadium totalling more than £25m up to 31 March.

This comprised the £22m original loans in 2012/13 and ongoing loans of £3.776m for working capital between 2012/13 and 2016/17.

In March, the outstanding balance of the development loan was £16.6m.

The additional £632,000 loan is set to be approved at a meeting on Wednesday.