The Stadium for Cornwall is planned for a site just off the A390 near Threemilestone on the outskirts of Truro

Cornish Pirates owner Dicky Evans expects the land for the new Stadium for Cornwall to be handed over to the club by the end of the month.

The project has a phase one cost of £14m to be shared between the club, Cornwall Council, Penwith College and central government.

A Crowdfunding campaign is planned to raise money for phase two.

Evans said they were now "within touching distance" of getting the stadium off the ground.

"I see no valid outstanding reason in the way for the council to pass the land to the Cornish Pirates within the next week or so - certainly by month's end," he said in a statement on the club website. external-link

"We have been working on building an iconic stadium for the people of Cornwall, not just a ground with a large stand and a ground capacity for 6,000 spectators.

"We want the stadium to be a showpiece sports arena in the future, a must visit place for visitors to Cornwall and Cornish folk alike.

"This will take a lot more funding than the phase one cost of £14m, which is basically in place and includes outstanding money from the government."

The ground would initially have a capacity of 6,000 - with the option to extend to 15,000 - with an artificial pitch.

Football club Truro City, which was taken over by the Pirates in March, will also play home games at the new stadium.

For now though, they will continue to use their Treyew Road home, but will be in the Southern Premier League this season following relegation from National League South.

The Crowdfunding campaign for phase two will enable people to buy a minimum of £10 worth of shares, but only those putting in £2,000 or more will have voting rights.

"I have had to agree certain conditions related to the operation of the stadium to include the financial security of the council funding (which will also apply to the government funding) but as this is taxpayer money, we have no problem with this issue," added Evans.

"Once signed off, we'll have lift off for fundraising efforts, which are already in the pipeline."