A £20 million development on contaminated land is finally going ahead after years of uncertainty.

Plans for the old Alcad site have been given outline planning permission, giving rise to as many as 300 jobs for the town.

But there is a long list of conditions set out by Redditch Council which must be satisfied before the contaminated area, which has been derelict since 1992, can be developed.

The proposals include a skills centre for unemployed people, community facilities, a B & Q warehouse-type store, affordable housing and a purpose-built mosque.

The conditions include several concerning the demolition and construction of the development.

A landscape scheme should be submitted before any development work takes place, machinery is only able to operate during certain hours and nothing must be burnt on the site at any time.

The mosque and skills centre must only be used for religious and community purposes and there must also be no loud speakers or amplification equipment used without prior written approval from the planning committee.

Other conditions include a limit on the number of parking spaces in the retail area to 516 and the DIY warehouse will not open to business until highway, pedestrian and cycle-way improvements to Ipsley Street, Union Street and Tunnel Drive areas have been implemented.

There must also be an acoustic barrier to control the impact of noise pollution from the Alvechurch Highway and none of the residential buildings can be occupied until this has been implemented in full.

Planning committee chairman Councillor Clive Cheetham said: "At the moment, this site is a blot on Redditch's landscape because it looks bad and it is dangerous.

"This development will eradicate these problems and improve the look of Redditch. This is a fantastic thing for the town."

l Since Alcad's departure from the Smallwood site in 1992, concerns have been raised by residents about the contamination of the site from materials including Cadmium, a toxic substance used in the battery making process.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "This is a contaminated site and there are a number of issues which need to be resolved with the developers.

"We regard the contamination to be low risk to the environment but we will be discussing this with the developers with regards to the whole planned development."