Stadium scheme could be back on

Sterling Capitol's bid to develop a stadium with 30,000 seats was on the brink of collapse yesterday after Bradford Bulls boss Chris Caisley said he was looking for another developer.

Mr Caisley, chairman of the rugby league team, said deadline after deadline had passed without Sterling Capitol signing the contract for the work to go ahead.

He held urgent talks with Bradford Council's Chief Executive Ian Stewart to discuss resurrecting a scheme proposed by the Bulls five years ago for upgrading the stadium at a cost of £5 million.

It was hoped that the issue would be resolved yesterday after Sterling Capitol said it was ready to sign the deal but late last night the final legal details had still not been sewn up.

Today, Mr Caisley said: "We are not going to cut off our nose to spite our face. I spoke to Ian Stewart late last night. He said he had a promise from Sterling Capitol that it would be signing in the accepted form today. If it is signed today, we shall continue to put 100 per cent effort into it."

The crisis was the latest drama to hit the Odsal saga which has been going on for the past seven years.

Ambitious plans for a £200m superdome on the Council-owned stadium land collapsed after five years of delay.

Horsforth-based Sterling Capitol was picked as the new developer in April last year and has now gone into partnership with shopping giant Tesco to develop the scheme.

The company is expected to submit a planning application for the scheme in the near future but it will have to be decided by deputy premier John Prescott in his role as Secretary of State for Transport, Environment and the Regions.

The council and company are also in talks about the funding needed to carry out remedial work on a landfill site on the land.

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