The levelling of a four-acre site at Elstree Studios has been completed, bringing the multi-million pound development of new media facilities a step closer.

The site, formerly known as ‘the mound’, takes up over a quarter of useable space at the Borehamwood-based studios.

The project has been funded by a £2million loan from Hertfordshire’s Local Enterprise Partnership’s Growing Places Fund with another £2.5m from Hertsmere Borough Council.

Donald Graham, Hertsmere Council's chief executive, said: “The clearance of the mound has been an impressive project and has been achieved without disruption to a number of high-profile productions that are staged there.

"I'm looking forward to the studios moving ahead with this exciting project for the benefit of both the media industry and the residents of Hertsmere. The council will be developing proposals over the next three months for utilising this space that reflect both the long term ambitions of our studios and the industry's needs.”

The site has been unused for almost 30 years due to contaminated materials being deposited there, but these have now been removed by specialist contractors.