Work to start on new York sports stadium next year

The new stadium will house the city's professional football and rugby league teams

Work on a delayed £37m sports stadium in York is due to start in spring 2015.

The 8,000 seat ground will be the new home for football club York City and the York City Knights rugby league team.

City of York Council announced that the contract to build the new facility in the Monks Cross area had been awarded to a consortium led by Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL).

The ground is scheduled to be completed by late summer 2016.

The Labour leader of the council James Alexander said the authority would be investing £8m in the project, with the rest coming from grants and revenue from commercial developments.

As well as the main stadium, the complex will include a swimming pool, gym and artificial football pitches.

Work was originally planned to start this year, but the delay in construction was blamed on the discovery of great crested newts at the site and procurement problems.

Chris Symons, director of development for GLL, said, "We are delighted to have been selected as the preferred bidder for the Community Stadium and Leisure Complex in York.

"The plans for the new stadium, leisure centre and community hub, are truly ground breaking and represent a unique scheme that is sure to become a flagship project regionally as well as nationally."

Final approval on the scheme will be taken by the council in September.