Gloucester City Council to buy RDA assets

Gloucester City Council is to to buy key property that forms part of the city's regeneration plan from the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA).

SWRDA is selling the assets after getting permission from the government to do so.

The council will draw up plans to buy sites such as the Fleece Hotel and parts of Blackfriars following a meeting on Monday night.

The deal is expected to be completed by mid-July.

All of England's nine RDAs are due to close by March 2012 and are are being replaced by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) of councils and businesses.

The South West RDA was being scrapped because it "didn't work", Prime Minister David Cameron told people in Cornwall at a "PM Direct" event last July.