Supporters of the proposed £500m US embassy in London’s Nine Elms say the controversial project will provide a huge boost to regeneration after outline plans were approved by Wandsworth borough council on Wednesday night.

The five-acre site is situated between the derelict hulk of Battersea power station and Nine Elms fruit and vegetable market. The council and its backers claim that the US decision to site the embassy on this rundown, formerly industrial riverside site is a big vote of confidence in the area’s future. Opponents are nervous the complex will be a forbidding fortress.