Tottenham's plans to build a new stadium took a major step forward on Friday after the club were granted permission to use a site earmarked for the project.

The north London club were told that government ministers had agreed with a compulsory purchase order made by the Borough of Haringey, which will enable the Northumberland Development Project to continue.

More than 95 per cent of the three-hectare site has already been approved and the order was requested to allow the final two of three phases to go ahead.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: "This scheme is supported by the locally determined development plan for the area and has received strong local support."

Earlier this year, Tottenham expressed their hope that the new 56,250-capacity stadium would be ready by 2017.

The current ground capacity of White Hart Lane is approximately 36,240.

In 2011, Tottenham lost out to West Ham in a bid to move to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.