Plans for an ambitious engineering college in Thamesmead have been boosted by a huge grant from city hall.

The Greater London Authority has handed Bexley Council £100,000 to fund plans for the Place and Making Institute, a potential engineering college in east Thamesmead.

The council agreed to develop the major campus with help from Peabody and London South East College.

This funding will be used to develop the scheme, which has been made a major part of Bexley's recently published growth strategy.

Councillor Teresa O’Neill OBE, the leader of Bexley Council, said: "I would like to thank the GLA for helping to support us in developing the proposal, which has the potential to benefit people across London and the south-east.

"The Institute will create all types of opportunities for people to shape the places of the future, with input from the worlds of construction, development, education, housing, planning and local government."

The Place and Making Institute, according the council's growth strategy, will be "world class" campus training students in construction and engineering, from NVQ level two to post graduate studies.

John Lewis, executive director for Thamesmead at Peabody said: “This is exciting news not only for Thamesmead, but for the future prosperity of London and the south east. We need the skills to create great places and sustainable communities. Working closely with our partners, this centre of excellence for place and making will help us to deliver something great for the town today and into the future.”

Thamesmead is an area earmarked for major growth by Bexley Council, with plans for 4,000 new homes and 5,000 new jobs and a new Crossrail station all included in the growth strategy. A total of 31,000 new homes are planned for Bexley by 2036.

The proposed site for the campus is less than a mile from Abbey Wood station, near Yarnton Way.