West Cornwall MP Derek Thomas has spoken in a Commons Budget debate to express his disappointment that the Chancellor failed to make any announcement about the Stadium for Cornwall in his Autumn Statement.

In April this year Cornwall Council agreed to provide £3million towards building a stadium on a site near Threemilestone, to be a home ground for the Cornish Pirates and Truro City FC as well as provide business and conference facilities and kitchen and hospitality training facilities for Truro and Penwith College.

There is also a health and fitness centre planned for the stadium, which would be operated by GLL (Greenwich Leisure Limited), the non-profit company that already runs leisure centres in Cornwall.

The overall cost of the project is £14.3million and it had been hoped the council would cover the £6million shortfall, but with members only providing half the stadium partners then looked to central government to fulfil a commitment made by former Prime Minister David Cameron in the run up to the 2015 General Election.

In April of that year Mr Cameron gave the project his full backing, saying: "The stadium proposal is an exciting one. If it takes some extra money I'd make that money available.

Mr Thomas, whose constituency includes the Cornish Pirates' current home ground, Mennaye Field at Penzance, has supported the stadium partners in their efforts to bring to fruition their long-held ambition to build a multi-sports stadium at Langarth, near Truro.

Earlier this year he brokered a meeting for them and fellow Cornish MPs to meet with Matt Hancock, the then Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to press the case for Government backing. This followed a meeting with the Chancellor requesting Government support to see the Stadium for Cornwall vision realised.

Speaking at in the debate on the Budget Resolutions, Mr Thomas said: “I was hoping to hear something about the stadium for Cornwall.

“For ten years in Cornwall, we have worked to try to put together a scheme worthy of Government support. I believe I did everything I could, along with all Cornish MPs and others, to convince the Chancellor to provide the £3 million still needed.

“Cornwall does not have a centre where sports can be played easily. Part of the proposal is to extend outreach to every corner of the county, improving the health and wellbeing of children and their families.

“What more can my colleagues and I do, with the people of Cornwall, to convince the Government that the money is needed and deserved, and that the scheme provides value for money?”

Mr Thomas questioned whether, among all the other priorities, the stadium for Cornwall had slipped the attention of the Chancellor and said he looked forward to positive guidance from the Treasury on how the Stadium for Cornwall can be achieved.

Cornish Pirates RFC chairman Paul Durkin has said he is confident of a "positive outcome" to the approach by the stadium partners to the Government, for a financial contribution to the stadium build. The application is currently undergoing 'the due process' and some points have been requested to be qualified.

The club said it hoped the issues be resolved by the end of this month, when all parties will meet to discuss the application.