KIER Construction, who have an office in Cheltenham, has won the contract to deliver the £45m grandstand development at the local racecourse in time for The Festival in 2016.

Work will start on the development immediately following the end of this week’s Festival when around 235,000 people are expected to descend on the home of jump racing for the four-day fixture.

Kier are responsible for several major projects already at Cheltenham, including the £17m Centaur building.

The development will create a state-of-the-art new grandstand alongside Cheltenham’s existing main grandstand. It will include new annual members’ facilities, general public viewing areas, private boxes, a Super Club and the Royal Box.