Court costs racked up by Wolverhampton Council in the ongoing supermarket wars has now reached almost £150,000 it has been revealed.

But the local authority says the hefty bill will be met by either Sainsbury’s or Tesco depending on the outcome of the battle to build a store in the Graiseley area.

The two companies have been battling for more than 10 years over the right to build a superstore and also a homes development on Raglan Street, close to Ring Road St Mark’s.

Sainsbury’s has already lost two High Court showdowns and was granted permission last year to take its fight to the Supreme Court where a hearing took place earlier this month.

It is bidding to overturn Wolverhampton City Council’s ruling to hand over its 86 per cent share of the site to its rival, and a decision from the Supreme Court could be handed down within weeks.

Wolverhampton City Council spokesman Tim Clark said: “The headline estimate figure for the legal costs incurred by Wolverhampton City Council in connection with all three stages of the judicial review proceedings in respect of Raglan Street , the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court is £145,000.”

He added: “We will recover our costs from either Tesco or Sainsbury depending on the outcome of the Supreme Court hearing, so there will be no cost to local taxpayers.”

During the Supreme Court hearing earlier this month it was suggested that Tesco seduced Wolverhampton City Council chiefs with its designs for the restoration of the derelict Royal Hospital to land the lucrative development contract ahead of rivals Sainsbury’s.

Mr Neil King QC, for the city council, told the hearing that the restoration was “financially unviable”. Sainsbury’s lawyer Christopher Lockhart-Mummery QC argued that the contractual agreement was fundamentally flawed and it was illegal to top up an offer.