Edinburgh businessman Sir Tom Farmer yesterday demanded a public inquiry into the handling of a multi-million pound development crucial to the development of Hibernian Football Club.
The leader of Edinburgh City Council has already apologised to Sir Tom, who is the principal shareholder in the football club and who is a member of the consortium which unsuccessfully bid for the purchase of the council-owned Lochend Butterfly, a 12-acre site near Hibs' Easter Road stadium.
Councillor Donald Anderson said preliminary inquiries had revealed Sir Tom's plans to redevelop the Easter Road stadium, working with a consortium, had been excluded from the bidding process.
The land was subsequently sold to a consortium headed by Morrison Developments, which plans to develop the site for housing.
Mr Anderson admitted earlier this week that councillors had received ''inaccurate'' information involving the sale of the land.
However, Sir Tom yesterday insisted key questions remained unanswered and called for all documentation relating to the bid to be made public.
He said: ''The council may have apologised and admitted they based their decision on an inaccurate report but that is simply playing with words. They are not answering key questions and people have a right to know the answers.
''I am very concerned at the way this entire sale has been handled and I believe that concern is shared by others.
I think it is vital that we get to the bottom of this issue. We have said from the start that all we want is a level playing field but, so far, I am far from convinced that we have been offered one.''
The consortium - involving HFC Holdings, Morston Assets, and the Bank of Scotland - planned to acquire the council-owned Lochend Butterfly.
They had proposed to build a new east stand at the Hibs ground, in addition to business units and a world-class sports medicine centre, with a promise of a 35% share of any profits from future developments. The proposal was rejected.
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