Bristol Rovers have completed the signing of Jeff Hughes from Crystal Palace for an undisclosed fee in excess of £100,000.

The Northern Ireland international has agreed a three year contract which will keep him at Rovers until 2011

The 23-year-old left sider initially came to Rovers on loan at the end of March, but was forced off after just 30 minutes of a reserve game with ankle ligament damage. Nine minutes earlier, he had scored the opening goal against Cheltenham Town reserves.

Hughes agreed terms with Rovers last Thursday, before completing his medical on Friday. The deal with Crystal Palace was finalised this morning.

Bristol Rovers director of football, Lennie Lawrence, said: "We are delighted to bring to an end the pursuit of Jeff Hughes. We have been after him for six months, and he has now signed a deal with us.

"He is a quality addition to our squad, who can play at left midfield or left back. We think we have secured a player with Championship potential, and Palace must agree as they paid double what we have for him just a year ago.

"Negotiations are ongoing to bring in a striker, and we are hopeful that we will have another quality signing in place when we report back for preseason training."

Vice chairman Nick Higgs said: "This has been quite a complicated and drawn out negotiation, but we are pleased to have achieved it at last. Everyone at Bristol Rovers is looking forward to welcoming Jeff to the club."