Watford FC have been granted permission for an inflatable ‘dome’ to cover an artificial pitch at their London Colney training ground over the winter months.

The temporary ‘dome’ is planned for the Bell Lane training facility, which the club has shared with University College London since 2000.

It will cover an existing artificially surfaced football pitch, measuring 117m by 79m.

Permission for the ‘dome’ – which is 22m high and rectangular in shape – will last for five years.

But it would only be inflated during winter months – from the beginning of October to the end of March.

It would be made of a white double skin lightweight polyester fabric, secured to the ground by anchors.

And it would have an automatic inflation system with sensors to control its internal pressure – with a back-up generator in case of power failures.

At a meeting of Hertsmere Borough Council’s planning committee last Monday, members heard the pitch is used in the evenings by children and young people on the club’s academy and community programmes.

Councillors were told dark evenings, inclement weather and sodden or frozen ground could cause problems during the winter months.

Last winter the club used temporary floodlights around a grass pitch, but their preferred option is an indoor artificially surfaced pitch that can be lit from within.

According to the report the ‘dome’ would be a temporary solution to offering evening sessions at the site, which is in the green belt.

And, it was reported, the club is already considering options for the longer term.

A planning officer told the meeting this was a “stop-gap” while the club came up with a design that could be more acceptable to the council for a more permanent solution.

Until recently, the committee heard, the club did have the use of indoor facilities at Harefield Academy, which are no longer available to them.

According to the report to committee, there are concerns the club could lose is academy status without an indoor training facility.

Last year there was an application from the club for permanent planning permission for the ‘dome’.

At the time concerns were raised by planning officers about the impact it could have on the rural character of the green belt if allowed to remain indefinitely.

Although the training ground site sits within the green belt, it is screened by tall trees on all four sides.

At the committee meeting, members unanimously recommended the temporary planning permission be granted.