A KEY deal to allow Southend United’s stadium plans to move forward has fallen through, according to insiders.

To fund the club’s move to Fossetts Farm, Sainsbury’s wants to turn the current Roots Hall ground into a supermarket and hundreds of new homes.

As part of the development, the supermarket needs to buy the former Prospects College site, in Fairfax Drive, but college bosses said yesterday the deal had collapsed.

Neil Bates, the college’s group chief executive, said he was told by Sainsbury’s the deal had been “put on hold” with no reason as to why.

He said: “We are totally exasperated by the whole situation.

“This is the fifth time over a two-year period we have reached agreement with either Roots Hall or Sainsbury’s, and on each occasion the other party fails to complete on the agreement. This latest episode is one broken promise too many.

“We are a charitable foundation, and we have incurred thousands of pounds of legal fees. We have always acted in good faith, and we recognise the importance of the redevelopment of the football club site for the regeneration of the town.

“We are no longer prepared to waste time and money trying to sort this out, and we will now make our own arrangements for the sale or lease of our site.”

Mr Bates said several deadlines for contracts to be exchanged had been set, and each time the deal had fallen through.

He claims he was given full assurances contracts would be exchanged by Wednesday, and lawyers on both sides had completed all the necessary legal processes and documentation. But the college said it received an e-mail from Sainsbury’s to say the deal had “been put on hold” and no reason was given.

Both Sainsbury’s and Southend United said they did not wish to comment about the college’s claims, and the implications for both the Roots Hall development and Fossetts Farm.

In a recent question-and-answer session with fans, Southend United chairman, Ron Martin, said he expected work on the new 22,000-seater stadium off Eastern Avenue, Southend, to begin soon. He has previously reassured fans the Blues will not leave Roots Hall until the new Fossetts Farm stadium is built.