PLANS to expand a TV and film studio near York have been approved.

Create Yorkshire is a creative hub at the former RAF Church Fenton, near Tadcaster, and has been approved by Selby District Council’s planning committee.

The application received support from regional creative organisations, local universities and colleges, was unanimously approved by councillors on Wednesday.

Makin Enterprises, the company behind the proposals, welcomed the decision, which will see a new HQ building and the conversion of existing hangars into more studios, while a creative, digital and media industries employment hub will offer commercial space for businesses from the creative industries.

The studios are home to, among other productions, sets for ITV’s Victoria, which also films on location around York.

Chris Makin, managing director of Makin Enterprises, said Create Yorkshire was “an opportunity to attract unprecedented investment, growth and innovation into North Yorkshire”.

He said: “We are attracting some serious interest from well-known companies looking to bring jobs and investment to the area. There is the potential to deliver an international class creative hub here in North Yorkshire which can utilise the significant creative talent which exists here in Yorkshire. Alongside the existing TV and film studios, we already have a small number of local creative companies based at Church Fenton who have become the nucleus of the future cluster. The creative industries have been a major economic driver for the UK in recent years and all the predictions are that the sector will continue to grow. There is no reason to doubt that Create Yorkshire could play a major future role in enabling Yorkshire’s creative economy to thrive.”

The planning application will now be referred to central government for a final decision.