Plans to transform part of East Manchester with new sports and community facilities have been granted council approval, with work due to begin later this year.

The joint venture between Manchester City Council, Manchester City Football Club and urban regeneration company New East Manchester will see a 16-acre site in Beswick redeveloped with a new leisure centre, pool and school.

A sports research centre, offering academic research and diagnostic facilities, is proposed for development in the project's second phase.

The Department of Education has agreed to capital funding for the new sixth form college on the site.

Deputy leader of Manchester City Council, Jim Battle, said: "Both planning approval and the funding green light for Connell College represent two major hurdles for the transformation of Beswick and represents the culmination of a lot of hard work, as well as the beginning of an incredibly exciting future for East Manchester."