The building of 380 homes on the site of a former chemical plant has moved a step closer after a clean-up of the land was declared successful.

The Environment Agency, Public Health England and South Cambridgeshire District Council have all declared the former agrochemical site in Hauxton safe for building following tests on the land carried out in April.

Remediation work on the land was carried out in 2011, and samples have been taken periodically since then to determine whether it was safe.

Jo Mills, director of planning and new communities for South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “We have always been very clear that no homes can be built until the developers provide the required evidence that the site has been cleaned up to stringent standards. It is good news that this hurdle has now been cleared.

“The next step will be for the developers to show how they would build homes, provide drainage and roads on the site and until we are 100 per cent satisfied with these plans, no building work can be carried out.”

Harrow Homes are seeking to build houses on the land, and already have planning permission for the first phase of the development, a total of 201 properties.