Hearts owner Ann Budge has revealed the club's healthy financial position has allowed them to put aside millions of pounds to go towards their £12m stadium upgrade.

Mrs Budge told supporters that more than half of the cost was already secured, with an announcement to follow on how the rest of the cash will be raised.

And she assured fans at a consultation meeting at the stadium that the club will remain debt free after the works have been completed.

The Tynecastle main grandstand will be replaced, with renovations also taking place in the other three stands, over the course of the next two years.

Mrs Budge explained that the club's revenue, added to pledges from the Foundation of Hearts, was sufficient to allow a significant pot of savings to accrue.

In addition, funding has been guaranteed from a group of anonymous benefactors, helping push the total to more than £6m.

A debenture-style scheme will be offered to raise more capital for the project, which will take capacity at Hearts' home to between 20,000 and 21,000.

And the Hearts owner refused to rule out the possibility of selling naming rights for the new stand to bring in more revenue to fund the project.

She told STV: "I think from an early stage I was reasonably attuned to the fact it was going to be £10m and upwards.

"We have come in with just over £11m - I'm a cautious person so I have allowed a 10% contingency and that's why I'm saying £12m.

"But that incorporates everything - not just the new stand - also the improvements we are going to make to the other stands."

Asked whether the supporter pledges were going towards the funding, she said: "You can look at it in a lot of different ways.

"The club has done quite well so some of it has been because we have been running a successful business - making money and not having to use the pledges that have come in.

"That gives us a fairly substantial start to that pot.

"We also have amazing benefactors and I have promises that are more than promises - they are guarantees - for some additional funding.

"This isn't included in what I've already got, but additional funding will come from things like debentures."

Details of the facilities in the new grandstand are yet to be fully confirmed, but Hearts plan a number of hospitality areas, new office and retail space, plus areas for community use.

Mrs Budge said: "It is all about building revenue streams for the club and corporate is certainly part of that.

"We have to be able to provide the kind of facilitates that people want.

"Clearly if we don't increase our revenue as a consequence of this, we will have failed, because £12m is a lot of money to pay for 3000 extra seats.

"I think it will allow us to reach new levels of revenue and the key will be to keep these revenues consistent."

Subject to planning consent, work will begin on demolishing buildings on McLeod Street in October this year with a deadline of December for the main truss, which supports the roof of the stand, to be in place.

Work will then begin to build the frame of the new stand over and around the existing 1914 grandstand, which supporters will continue to occupy for the duration of the construction.

Hearts will ask the SPFL to schedule their final three games of the 2016/17 season, and the first fixtures of the 2017/18 season, to be away from home to allow the seating area to be completed for fans to occupy without Hearts having to take home games away from Tynecastle.

The rest of the stand's facilities will then be completed over a period of 12 months - with the opening of the new Tynecastle Nursery School, situated in the north east corner of the structure, taking priority.

Reflecting on the whole project, Mrs Budge added: "It is very exciting. When I first came in I envisaged that after five years we would have the plans [for a new stand] done and I would be able to hand it over as the next thing to do.

"The fact we are able to do it so far ahead of schedule is great."

Artist's impression of new Tynecastle grandstand courtesy of HMFC