Stadium costing £80,000 a month

Cannock’s empty athletics stadium is costing the taxpayer £80,000 every month.

And if Cannock Chase Council is prevented from selling it, replacements for the Prince of Wales Centre and Chase Leisure Centre may have to be scrapped.

The cash is lost interest the council would have reaped from the estimated £20 million sale of the stadium, which closed on July 31.

The authority had budgeted for the cash being in its budget and envisaged the sale being made in May.

But those hopes were scuppered when opposition to the plan to sell it off for housing and provide replacement facilities at Blake Valley High School took it to a public inquiry which cost the council £38,525, minus VAT, in legal costs.

Now, with a decision not expected until November, and no guarantee a sale will be secured, it is feared the total loss from the budget could be anywhere between £500,000 and £1 million.