The bid to house the national football stadium in Birmingham has been dismissed as unworkable by its Midlands archrival.
Coventry council leader Nick Nolan, who is trying to get the stadium built in Coventry, claimed it would not meet its deadline.

Nolan said Birmingham would need "some sort of time machine" to meet its expected completion date of 2005. He claimed that the £324m stadium, designed by Arup, would require a long-winded planning inquiry as it is to be located on greenbelt land.

But a source at Arup said two eminent planning QCs had cleared the project and it would beat a planning inquiry.

Birmingham timed the launch of its bid to coincide with the submission of a report into the stadium. This is thought to weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of Birmingham, Coventry and Wembley.