Rok and Morgan Ashurst chase £14m North East leisure project

Two rivals have locked horns in the final run-in for a delayed £14m leisure-sector deal in the North East.

Insiders say that only Rok and Morgan Ashurst are now left in contention for the Coatham Links scheme to the west of Redcar.

It is understood that pitches from Allenbuild and Balfour Beatty have hit the rocks - with Barr, a third challenger, pulling out because of workload pressures.

The Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council scheme includes a 25m swimming pool, leisure pool, all-weather soccer pitches and a fitness suite.

The council appointed Persimmon Homes to promote the redevelopment of the site, but it is understood that the scheme has now been hit by planning problems.

Work on the scheme was initially programmed to start on site at the back end of last year, for completion by summer 2009.