Frustrated Walthamstow Stadium lovers have vowed to start legal proceedings against the housing group which bought the land.

The Save Our Stow consortium has put forward two separate bids to buy the Chingford Road stadium; one to buy part of the land to continue racing to allow housing to be built on the rest, and another to simply lease the land until building work starts.

But so far they have hit a brick wall.

Richard Codd, the Yorkshire millionaire is keen to bring the stadium back into use as soon as possible, and has offered to pay Walthamstow Developments, a consortium of three separate housebuilders, for a short-term lease.

He said: “I’ve offered to pay £250,000 for each year, L&Q has to pay half that in council tax alone, for it just to sit there it makes no sense.”

Mr Codd says he is so angry that a registered charity can prevent him giving work to some of the 650 people who lost their jobs when the Stow closed, he is planning to take the housing association to court.

Meanwhile a split has emerged in the council’s ruling Lib/Lab pact over the issue.

Liberal Democrat leader, Cllr John Macklin has thrown his weight behind the Save Our Stow campaign, saying he is more than happy to work with SOS to ensure the success of the bid.

He said: “My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I are enormously disappointed at the recent turn of events regarding the future of Walthamstow Greyhound Stadium.

“We are fully in support of their efforts to keep the stadium as both a greyhound racing track and a sport and leisure venue. The success of our leisure venues is an integral part of building a sustainable community in Waltham Forest and ensuring that we are attractive to both our residents and visitors.”

But Labour cabinet members, Cllr Clyde Loakes and Cllr Terry Wheeler, refused to support the bids when they met the consortium last week.

Cllr Wheeler, the man responsible for planning and regeneration, told the Guardian that as a council the planning authority had to be neutral.

“What we’re trying to do is to protect the council’s neutral position but at the same time we’re not unsympathetic to leisure use on the site.

“We’re suggesting SOS should go back to L&Q.”