PLANS to bring international motor sport to Wales are moving a step closer with a new bid being submitted for the proposed Circuit of Wales development.

Promoters of the £370 million project at Ebbw Vale have now raised additional private capital for the scheme which should meet Welsh Government requirements.

Two previous bids for Welsh Government support to fund part of the project were rejected as falling short of private capital.

The last proposal in July sought 75 per cent of the cost from the public purse and eight per cent from local authorities, leaving about 17 per cent needed from the private sector.

In the past two months, intensive talks have been held among private financiers and now a new proposal has been put to Welsh Government officials.

Sources say that the new private finance element has risen to 50 per cent of the project cost and this is the level that former Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, Edwina Hart, said would be the marker to trigger Welsh Government funding - substantially more than the first proposal a few years ago when the scheme was first mooted and £16 million was requested from the Welsh public purse.

If details of the new private support and revised third proposal are acceptable to Welsh Government it is likely the scheme will go ahead and motor racing could begin from 2018.