Ministers overturned recommendations from their own officials and the local Midlothian Council to reject plans for the £140m Pentland Studios project on a green belt site at Straiton.

Developers behind the scheme said: “PSL Land Ltd are very pleased with today’s decision by Ministers to approve the grant of planning permission in principle for Scotland’s world-class Film & TV studio complex, and will be moving forward immediately with the application for planning permission in detail for the Film Studio, Academy and Energy Centre sections of the development.

“Working together with Midlothian Council, PSL hope this next stage will be expedited accordingly, recovering the construction scheduling that will enable delivery of the key Studio operation by late 2018.

“It is anticipated that a detailed schedule to progress the planning application will be agreed with Midlothian Council in the next few weeks, producing a phased timeframe with the Studio, Academy and Energy Centre as the first buildings to be progressed to full planning consent.”