Balfour Beatty, Bovis Lend Lease and Sir Robert McAlpine are battling it out for the £75m National Arena for Scotland, after the project was saved by a £40m council bailout this week

The arena, which was designed by Foster + Partners, will be part of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow.

The project was put in jeopardy after developer Elphinstone abandoned plans to buy a car park on the site, where it was to have built 1,600 homes.

This meant that the client, which is 91% owned by Glasgow council, ran out of cash. As no alternative buyer could be found, the council stepped in with a £40m loan, which was due to be ratified by the council executive last night.