Cornwall Council says it has still been unable to secure a deal for land which will be used for the first stages of a new town and the Stadium for Cornwall.

Bob Egerton, Cabinet member for planning, said that he was “frustrated” by the continued delays in getting a deal for the land and “embarrassed” by how much the council has had to spend.

Cornwall Council is looking to secure land from developers Inox, which would be used for the first stages of the Langarth Garden Village – a development of 2,700 homes and facilities on the outskirts of Truro.

The land also includes the proposed site for the Stadium for Cornwall which, once secured, would be handed over to the partners of the stadium project.

The Stadium would be a home for the Cornish Pirates rugby side, Truro City football club as well as providing hospitality and conference facilities which would be used by Truro and Penwith College. The stadium would also be used by other sports teams and groups.

Cllr Egerton had previously told councillors that the deal was in “touching distance” and the Cornish Pirates last year issued a statement claiming that the land deal had been done.

But on Tuesday at a meeting of full council Cllr Egerton revealed the many delays which had been caused by Inox.

He explained that last year Inox had said it was willing to sell the land to the council and “they pressured us saying we needed to do it quickly” and claimed that others were waiting in the wings.

Cllr Egerton said that the council was ready to “send a cheque” at the end of November and then found that Inox was unable to exchange contracts.

He said that he was then told that it would happen by Christmas, but that failed to happen.

Cllr Egerton claimed that Inox was involved in a “web of companies” which had interests in the land and had tied itself up in knots over the issue.

He said that an exchange of contracts had been arranged for February 7, but after a meeting with Inox chief executive Rob Saltmarsh the date came and went.

Cllr Egerton said the council was “promised” it would happen on February 18 but that “came and went” followed by a new date of yesterday, which failed.

He said that it was no criticism of the council’s officers who had been working “24/7” on the issue.

Cllr Egerton said: “I am still being told that we are virtually there. I am embarrassed about it.

“We have threatened to walk away from it, but our officers asked me not to walk away.

“Unless there is a signature on paper we have got no agreement. We are still within minutes or nano seconds of doing the deal on the Langarth contract.

“The stadium land, at some point will be passed over as a planning obligation. But the stadium can only happen once we have the land ownership sorted out. Once we have got the land we have got a strong position.”

He added: “I hope that we will get it done in the next few days. If Inox don’t want to sell us the land we might have to go somewhere else.

“I am frustrated as anybody. I am embarrassed by the amount of money we have spent on legal people.”

Conservative group leader Linda Taylor asked if the council was looking to go ahead with Langarth “at any cost”.

Cllr Egerton replied: “Not at any cost, we have spent a lot of money. But we have told Mr Saltmarsh that we will have to walk away and spend our money elsewhere.

“We are very keen on getting Langarth developed but our patience is not unlimited.”