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Partners behind plans for a new £24m sports stadium in Cornwall hope to secure detailed planning consent in the New Year, Cornwall Council has said.

A detailed business plan was hoped to be completed at the same time, it added.

Partners include the council, Cornish Pirates Rugby Football Club and private sector developer the Inox Group.

A decision on permission for the project is due be made by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

A timetable to deliver the scheme was to be extended, the council added.

The delay would make it difficult for the Cornish Pirates to achieve stadium compliance criteria for rugby championship-level games by a deadline of 31 March set by the Rugby Football Union.

This would mean the club would be unable to play in the new stadium during the 2012-13 season, the council said.

No completion date has been announced for the proposed 10,000-seat stadium, which would be at Threemilestone on the edge of Truro.

Outline planning permission was granted in November.

The council has said no public money would go towards its construction because of spending cuts.