New basketball arena planned for the Olympic Legacy Park in Sheffield

A £3.5m sports arena is to be built on the former Don Valley Stadium site after plans were approved by Sheffield City Council.

The 2,500-seat arena will be used by the Sheffield Sharks basketball team and other sports as part of a 35-acre Olympic Legacy Park.

The Park Community Arena is expected to be built this autumn, said organisers.

Don Valley Stadium was demolished in 2013 as part of cost-saving measures by the city council.

Atiba Lyons, head coach of the Sheffield Sharks, said: "This heralds a bright new future."

"The Park Community Arena will provide a fantastic home for basketball from junior to senior level and will be a great boost for the city."

It is hoped Sheffield Eagles, the city's rugby league team, is also to play at the park from next season said organisers.

The site is to incorporate the existing English Institute of Sport and iceSheffield.

The Oasis Academy, for children aged up to 16, is already open on the site and a University Technical College is due to open in September.

Outline planning permission was also granted for an Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre in the park.

The arena is to be part of a 35-acre Olympic Legacy Park

The Olympic Legacy Park is joint venture between Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield City Council.

Although the site was not involved in the 2012 Olympic Games it has retained the name since the idea for the developing the area was first mooted.

Don Valley Stadium was built in 1990 at a cost of £29m to host the 1991 World Student Games.