WORKINGTON Reds have demanded a showdown with council chiefs amid claims they are being left in “limbo” over shared stadium plans.

The move by the football club comes after the new administration postponed a crunch planning panel meeting to give them “more time” to review the multi-million pound scheme.

But this latest blow leaves the future of two of Workington’s biggest sporting teams in the air, with a question mark also hanging over Allerdale’s hosting of the Rugby League World Cup 2021 games.

Workington Reds’ chairman John Mackay said he was “very disappointed” with the lack of progress and claimed the club was being kept in the dark.

He said: “We are not being kept informed. We are hearing different things, but nobody has officially contacted Reds.

“We thought everything was going ahead but now we don’t know if the plug has been pulled or not.

“We have been left in limbo. I understand that the new executive want to revisit the plans; that’s their prerogative, their duty of care. But they also have a duty of care to the people who will be most affected by it.

“If they want to pull the plug, then tell us. If they’re not going to pull the plug, then tell us. There has been a lack of communication and communication costs nothing. All we are asking for is transparency and to be kept informed.”

A meeting with members of the Reds board and the council leader Marion Fitzgerald is due to be held on Wednesday.

The club is due to start its training in three weeks’ time and is due to play its first friendly in just over a month with the league starting in the middle of August.

The stadium was also cornerstone of the previous Labour-led executive’s successful bid to host Rugby League World Cup games.

However, the clock is ticking with permission for the stadium yet to be granted and the new administration still to decide whether to press on with the build.

Anxiety has increased because the all new council administration includes members who branded the stadium a “vanity project” when they were in opposition.

Mr Mackay likened the uncertainty to an employee hearing that the factory where they worked may close, adding: “When rumours start flying you start to imagine all sorts of things and it upsets people.”

Workington Town is in a stronger position because the temporary ground share arrangement is based in their Derwent Park home.

But the building of the brand new venue would require Reds to move out of Borough Park while it is demolished to make way for the new stadium, leaving them vulnerable if the project were to fall through.

This is why the club is not prepared to leave their ground until they get cast iron guarantees the multi-million pound venue will be built.

A council spokesman said: “The agenda for Allerdale Council’s development panel of 4 June was due to include the planning application for the new stadium. However, it has subsequently been decided not to consider it at this meeting to allow more time for the new administration to fully review the details of the plans. The council remains fully committed to ensuring there are excellent sports and leisure facilities in the borough.”