The Middlesbrough Sports Village off Marton Road will initially include:

• Athletics field and stadium featuring 400m track with 10-lane straights and eight-lane bends and spectator seating
• Enhanced and extended indoor tennis courts and improved outdoor courts
• 75-station fitness gym and studios
• Full-size flood-lit Artificial Turf Pitch (ATP) and small-sized ATPs
• Grass junior and senior football pitches

Willmott Dixon is due to start work on the first athletics phase next spring once the scheme has completed the planning process.

Future phases of the development could see the creation of swimming facilities, a major sports hall, an outdoor velodrome and mountain bike/BMX track.

The athletics track and temporary changing will be in place by October 2014 with the first phase of the development due for completion the following May.

Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon said: “Middlesbrough’s sporting facilities are an important part of the fabric of the town, and they mean a great deal to the people who live and work here.

“The town is currently facing unprecedented cuts which will have severe impact on the services we are able to deliver for many years to come.

“But within that process we have the opportunity to dispose of some of our ageing facilities, and replace them with a new state of the art Sports Village which will stand the town in good stead for the future.

“The ambition is to create a new iconic, regional sports destination which will attract people from across the town and further afield for generations to come.”