Plans for a designated film and TV studio in Liverpool are edging closer to reality with a £5m cash injection now confirmed.

As we reported back in September, the iconic Art Deco building, formerly home to Littlewoods Pools, has been earmarked for development as a major new filming facility, and now a group of city region leaders known as a “Super Cabinet” has agreed to provide £4.95m towards the project, according to the Liverpool Echo.

Developers Capital & Centric are behind the enterprise, which has the potential to create around 900 full-time jobs. The move has been welcomed by local officials and industry professionals as a positive step to raise further Liverpool”s profile as not just a film location, but a centre for post-production too, a service which is often fulfilled elsewhere.

The city, which has many grand civic buildings that can easily double for those of Manchester or London, has already enjoyed noted success with projects such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Florence Foster Jenkins and Peaky Blinders all choosing to shoot there.

Chair of the Combined Authority and Liverpool city Mayor Joe Anderson said of the studio project: “This will cement Liverpool”s place, along with the Baltic Quarter, in the creative industries. It”s an absolutely great boost for the city and the wider city region.

“We are the most filmed location outside London and to have these facilities in Liverpool will be a boost.”

The city recently hosted a group of top US production executives as part of a north England fam trip which also took in locations in Manchester and parts of Yorkshire.