Sussex's £8m redevelopment of the County Ground has taken another step forward after the club were given planning permission to carry out improvements to their floodlights.

The lights on the existing six pylons will be upgraded during the winter and two new pylons behind the pavilion and next to the main scoreboard will erected. Part of the £600,000 cost will be met by an ECB grant and the system will be powered by an electricity sub-station to be built on the ground.

It should bring to an end the embarassing problems the county have suffered with their current diesel-powered system which was erected in 1998.

In June, a Twenty20 match against Kent had to be abandoned after 11 overs of the second innings when the pylons at the Cromwell Road end packed up.

Later in the month the lights at the sea end failed after two balls of another Twenty20 game against Surrey and the game was held up for 25 minutes while Sussex fired up a back-up generator.

Chief executive Dave Brooks said: “The original lights had become obsolete and unreliable and did not meet ECB guidelines.

“I am delighted that the council have accepted this application and the understanding and input from local residents has been a real help. I am looking forward to this significant improvement in the staging of floodlit cricket at Hove from 2010.”