A £4.5m regional agricultural centre at the Great Yorkshire Showground, in Harrogate, has been approved.

The application, by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, was unanimously approved by Harrogate Borough Council.

Work is expected to begin in the middle of next year.

Nigel Pulling, the society's chief executive said: "This is an extremely exciting time for us as the new building will provide a much-needed focus for agriculture in the region and be a flagship for the industry." The 1,716 sq metre centre will be on the south side of the 250-acre showground and include a farm shop with an 80-seater cafe and office space.

Construction will take about a year, but will not affect the many events held at the showground, including the Great Yorkshire Show or Countryside Live.

Mr Pulling said the final details would now be finalised, with the architects and the project put out to tender.

The society's office staff will move to the building along with other not-for-profit rural organisations.

The shop will promote locally-sourced food as a priority, providing an extra outlet for farmers and producers.

The cafe will enable cookery demonstrations and food launches to be staged, highlighting the role played in food production by farmers - a key objective of the society.

A permissive cycle path and a footpath will be created, and the society has agreed that Harrogate Borough Council can develop a park-and-ride scheme on one of the showground fields.

The building has been designed to be heat efficient and, where possible, recycled materials and natural products will be used.

The farm shop and cafe will have a sedum roof and biomass boiler for additional heating.

The design has been created by P & HS Architects, which has offices in Stokesley and Leeds.