SAINTS' plans for a new ground at the former United Glass works site appear to have been dashed after a joint statement was issued this week by the club and St Helens Council.

The statement reads: "The council was first approached in October 1998 by directors of Saints, seeking assistance to develop a new stadium to meet national requirements.

It was recognised that the biggest challenge facing the club, was its ability to have substantial necessary funding to meet the expenditure of the ground. The club's only significant asset is its existing ground, which was identified as being suitable for housing development.

To assist the club, the council, when submitting the Single Regeneration Budget, in 1999, agreed to include an allocation of £2.25m as a contribution to the cost of the new stadium. At the present time £50,000 of this money has been spent on project managers and feasibility study fees.

The club's preferred location has always been the M62 Linkway Corridor and a number of options along this route were investigated and rejected.

Following the closure of United Glass, and the subsequent purchase of the site by the Langtree Group, the club entered into discussions with Langtree and, at its AGM in May 2000, announced details regarding their joint proposals, with Langtree, to develop a stadium and a food store on a part of the site.

The aim was that the food store would further subsidise the building of the stadium.

From the outset, the Council advised that planning permission was unlikely to be granted by the Secretary of State because he had previously rejected a similar development on Ravenhead Park. An application for the scheme was nevertheless submitted in August 2000. Following a proposal for a further food store in St Helens town centre, Langtree (the developer) accepted that a food store on the UGB site, was highly unlikely to obtain the Secretary of State's approval and the food store proposal was withdrawn.

We understand Langtree remain open minded about the prospect of the stadium on their site but insist that it can only be as part of a comprehensive commercially viable redevelopment scheme. But without the immediate proposal of any alternative to the food retail scheme there is little scope for any redevelopment proposals to facilitate the stadium.

Langtree is currently working with Ravenhead Renaissance to undertake initial works to the site to allow future development to take place by demolishing some obsolete buildings and reclaiming derelict land. Elsewhere the developer continues to work as part of the Local Strategic Partnership to assist the Borough to achieve its overall regeneration strategy.

The club are currently considering other options and sites which can sustain a new stadium of the capacity, location and standard befitting the club and its supporters.

The council remains committed to supporting the development of the Stadium subject to the club providing the necessary funding package to make it happen."