A bid for investment zone status for the West Midlands Gigafactory, and its immediate area near Kenilworth, has been submitted to the government.

The factory was shortlisted alongside 23 other sites nationwide as one of the potential zones during the mini-budget announced in September.

If successful, it will help secure £2.5billion investment required to build the factory and the site will benefit from tax incentives and relaxed planning rules.

The bid – backed by Coventry City Council – is part of a wider submission made by the West Midlands Combined Authority for a range of Investment Zones.

The council says the West Midlands Gigafactory could create up to 6,000 new jobs directly, as well as tens of thousands more in the automotive supply chain.

The zone would not only include the Coventry Airport site, but also adjacent employment land which could support the battery and automotive supply chain.

The site already has planning permission, but the council is still on the hunt for an investor.

Leader of Coventry City Council, Cllr George Duggins, said: "The West Midlands Gigafactory project, and its immediate area, is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to supercharge UK growth, as well as protect and create tens of thousands of jobs in the automotive and energy storage sectors.

"We have formed a strong partnership to deliver a Gigafactory in Coventry and we have the track record that proves what we can do in the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre adjacent to the gigafactory site.

"By granting investment zone status to this existing site, with planning permission attached, it means here in Coventry this is not about ploughing up new areas for speculative investments."