PLANS have been approved for a multi-million-pound extension to a bustling Hampshire business hub which are set to create almost 300 new jobs.

The Innovation Centre at Daedalus will be more than doubled in size by the 37,000sqft extension.

This will create 33 new office units, five new workshops and new parking spaces.

Leader of Fareham Borough Council, Seán Woodward welcomed the proposals and said: "The extension to the successful existing Innovation Centre is great news for Daedalus and the Solent Enterprise Zone.

“The existing building exceeded all expectations and reached full occupancy within its first year of opening, bringing 120 new jobs and 27 new businesses to the Enterprise Zone. There are many businesses that want to use space at the Centre which will enable them to prosper and grow.

"I am delighted that the borough council is making such rapid progress with our £50m investment at the Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus.

“We hope to see around 3,500 jobs and many new businesses moving in. We have built a new runway, are building new hangars, refurbishing the control tower to enhance the experience for visitors, providing a very large area of public open space and are helping enable the delivery of the Stubbington Bypass and many other road improvements to improve access to the business parks."

The centre, which opened in 2015,is currently at full capacity.

It was originally funded by a £5.3m investment from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and is managed on behalf of the council by Oxford Innovations.

Around 130 people currently work at the site from 28 different business, mostly in the aviation, aerospace and marine sectors.

Stewart Dunn, chief executive of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said the investment will be a big gain for Hampshire businesses.

He said: “The extension of the Innovation Centre is welcome news as office space in the Solent Region for innovative business has come under severe pressure in recent months. This provides a perfect solution for business wishing to expand their existing operations or for innovative start-up business.”

Stephen Brownlie, Oxford Innovation’s Solent regional manager, said: "A key focus will be to attract businesses from the region’s flourishing marine, aviation, aerospace and engineering sectors – many have already taken root at the first innovation centre and some have asked us to replicate the success of the centre they are in.

"Occupants will also benefit financially from being in the Solent Enterprise Zone, the first such zone in the South to be given the special designation by the then Prime Minister David Cameron.

The work is expected to cost around £6.6m and take just under a year with completion due in early 2018.