Bristol City Football Club has won permission to retain temporary buildings at its training ground.

The club’s players train at its base in Failand – which it shares with private Bristol school Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital – and asked North Somerset Council to prolong its permission to use them.

The move is designed to enable Bristol City to revamp its training complex, with a permanent 500-seater stadium for its academy players in the pipeline.

Such plans also need the go-ahead from North Somerset Council and that application remains outstanding.

In its application, the club said it wished to ‘retain the existing gym and changing room facilities on the site and provide additional changing room and supporting services accommodation, including physiotherapy and groundsman accommodation, for a temporary period of three years’.

It added: “(This will) enable the club to continue to train on the site during the construction of a new permanent training facility for which a separate planning application has been submitted.

“The site is currently occupied by temporary changing and gym facilities which are utilised by the first team and under-23s who have training pitches on adjacent fields.

“Additional changing rooms and supporting accommodation, including physiotherapy facilities and accommodation for the coaching team and support staff, is currently provided on the adjacent QEH playing field site and within the QEH pavilion building.

“These combined facilities are essential to the current operation of the club on the site.”

Bristol City is awaiting North Somerset Council’s decision for its academy plans, which include a gymnasium and three full-sized football pitches.

Concerns over the plans however have been raised by villagers.

Back in February, both Long Ashton plus Wraxall and Failand parish councils objected to the scheme, saying it was an ‘over-development’ which could cause traffic problems on the busy Clevedon Road.

North Somerset Council’s highways team says it cannot fully support the scheme unless it is demonstrated that safety will not be compromised by the development.