Yorkshire County Cricket Club got the Christmas present they were looking for in the form of a £9m loan from Leeds City Council which will go towards the purchase of the freehold of Headingley cricket ground and its income streams for £12m.

The Council agreed to stump up then money at a special meeting yesterday and their decision means Yorkshire will be able to buy the ground before the end of the year, guaranteeing the future of Test cricket at the venue.

Yorkshire members are today attending the club's extraordinary annual meeting which has been called to give formal approval to the purchase.

Lawyers representing both Yorkshire and their Headingley landlords, Leeds Cricket, Football and Athletic Company, are continuing to put the final touches to the small print of the deal but everything will be concluded by New Year's Eve.

Leeds City Council are loaning the money under the Government's Prudential Lending Scheme and it will be paid back over a 15-year period at a fixed rate of 4.5 per cent.

Yorkshire chairman, Robin Smith, commented: "Without the Council's loan this transaction would have been impossible and now that the loan has been made to us we can put in place a platform for enduring progress for the Club and for Yorkshire cricket.

"There is still a lot of work to complete this transaction and we are aiming to have it completed by December 31."

After intense scrutiny of the deal, Leeds City Council put it to the vote and the loan received unanimous approval.

Councillor Mark Harris, deputy council leader, said: "This is a great result for the city. We have always been very conscious of the importance of Test match status to Leeds.

"An independent study has shown that it would cost the city millions if Headingley lost its Test match status, not just in the present but in the future too.

"The cricket ground is one of the city's crown jewels and cricket one of its major sporting attractions.

"It is crucially important to the city's reputation and standing nationally and internationally.

"We are fully aware that these are public funds and throughout these negotiations it was vitally important that we were absolutely satisfied that the way in which we were lending the money was secure.

"Nothing is totally without risk but we are now satisfied that with the officers' recommendations, as they have been put to us, there are securities in place to ensure the risk is minimised.

"The public can be assured that the loan will be at nil cost to the taxpayers, both the interest and the capital sum will be fully repaid by the club."