Plans to build a 125 hectare 'gigafactory' at Coventry Airport look set to be given the green light as council officers have recommended that the scheme be approved.

The planning application, which was first submitted in July, will go before Warwick District Council's planning committee on January 11 2022, but officers have already said the plans should be accepted.

The battery factory will create over 6,000 new jobs and add a possible £434million in GVA to the local economy every year.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: "It is mission critical that the West Midlands secures a gigafactory, both for the future of our region's automotive industry and the huge economic and job benefits it would bring, as well as the future of our planet."

If approved the factory will be built in two phases on Green Belt land.

Once the first phase is completed the factory would be operating at 50 per cent capacity.

The second part of the development would see a further 150,000 m² of floorspace built up to a height of 36m and the site would then run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Developers said the gigafactory will be powered completely by 'green energy', using a combination of sources including solar and wind power, as well as grid supplied renewables, and will be able to recycle used batteries as well as build new ones.

Should councillors approve the plans in mid-January, the developers would then have until the end of March to complete a number of surveys and other legal requirements before a detailed planning application could be submitted.

The gigafactory, which is supported by Coventry City Council and Coventry Airport ltd, has received 292 objections mainly from local residents.

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