Demolition work has got underway at the Old Trafford cricket ground in Manchester in preparation for the first stage of Lancashire County Cricket Club's (LCCC) £200m redevelopment of the venue.

The initial phase of the project, which has been designed by BDP Architects, includes the creation of a new £12m glass-fronted conference and events facility overlooking the cricket pitch, which will be able to cater for up to 1,000 people. A £3m upgrade of Old Trafford's cricketing facilities also forms part of the first stage, which includes 2,500 new permanent seats, new floodlights and a new scoreboard and replay screen, while a new £600,000 outfield and drainage system has already been installed.

LCCC will also establish a solid-walled marquee at the venue in order to provide conferencing facilities for more than 700 people until the new building is completed. LCCC commercial director, Geoff Durbin, said: "The new conference and events suite will offer a unique venue with the capabilities of hosting large events, which other venues don't have the capacity to cater for. In addition, this new development is generating work and jobs for the area, and it's encouraging news in this current climate."

The start of demolition work, undertaken by Windmill Demolition, follows the announcement that the club has been awarded a £2.65m grant by Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) for the scheme, which is part of a bid to win back Test match cricket after the venue lost out to Cardiff's SWALEC Stadium for the right to host an Ashes Test match this summer. NWDA chief executive, Steven Broomhead, said: "The agency's investment will help to unlock an important first stage of the cricket ground's redevelopment, which would not be able to progress without public sector intervention.

"This would result in the region facing the potential loss of permanent international cricket and greatly reduce the impact the club makes to the regional economy."