The contractor replaces Bouygues on the scheme

Bristol City Council has rubber stamped plans to award Buckingham Group a pre-construction services deal on Bristol’s new £92m arena.

Buckingham replaces Bouygues, which walked away from the job in January this year after failing to agree a price for the 12,000-capacity arena.

Building revealed last Wednesday that council officials had been lining up Buckingham for the job - a decision now confirmed by the council’s cabinet.

A review into the cost of the scheme, which could result in the Populous-designed venue being redesigned, was also requested.

The council has set aside £123m to build the new arena which sits on council-owned land and has so far spent £9m on bringing the project forward.