The office of the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, has approved the planning applications for an ambitious sports village scheme in Leigh, Lancashire.

The £43m plans include a 10,000-seat stadium, a public sports hall, a 400m running track, covered sprinting facilities and a field sports area.

The 72-acre site will also have a hotel, a conference centre, residential development and commercial leisure facilities, including a cinema, a health and fitness centre and restaurants.

Approved initially by the Wigan Council in April, the plans had to be referred to the deputy prime minister’s department as they were judged to be at odds with the existing development plan for the area.

That hurdle has now been cleared and the final decision will be made by Wigan Council later this year.

Council leader, Lord Smith, said: “This decision gives the green light for the sports village to go ahead. The Leigh Sports Village will be the making of Leigh and give our people some of the finest facilities to be found in a town of its size anywhere in the country.”

The proposed stadium would be used by the town’s major sporting teams, including Leigh Centurions rugby league club, conference league soccer team Leigh RMI and Leigh Harriers athletic club.