Plans for a massive �240m sports village in Cardiff Bay are set to clear a major hurdle.

The sale of 74 acres of land at Ferry Road to Cardiff County Council is due to be completed on Thursday clearing the way for building work on the scheme to begin early in 2001.

Some 2,800 jobs are expected to be created on the site and a further 800 in Cardiff's city centre.

After many months of speculation, it seems likely that the site will house the replacement for the demolished Empire Pool.

The pool - which housed the Empire Games in the 1950s - was knocked down to make way for the new Millennium Stadium.

Snow dome

The Ferry Road site will also be the new home to the Cardiff Devils ice hockey team and a �14m "snow dome".

City council officials have yet to decide if a new athletics stadium will be located in the Bay.

The key sporting element missing from the project is likely to be Cardiff City Football Club who may well remain at Ninian Park or find another suitable location.

Offices, restaurants, shops, pubs, homes and hotels are also earmarked for the development - one of the largest in Cardiff's history.

Cardiff County Council has entered into a formal agreement to buy up the land from Associated British Ports and Cardiff Bay Development Corporation.

Delays

The project has undergone lengthy delays as negotiations between the council and CBDC progressed.

A consortium headed by the council and Dutch electronic giants Philips led plans to develop the area.

But the entire scheme was threatened by a rival bid to develop the site in 1998 for housing and offices.

Former Welsh Secretary Alun Michael helped get the project back on course with the transfer of some of the Ferry Road land to the council.

Spin-offs from the proposed scheme include creating many local jobs in Grangetown and Cardiff Bay and boosting the local economy's GDP by up to �80m.

It is thought the development of the sports village will also have a knock-on effect in attracting inward investment from other sources.