The multi-million pound development of Odsal stadium is back ON after the developer and Bradford Bulls finally agreed to sign a deal.

Developer Sterling Capitol and Bulls chairman Chris Caisley agreed the terms of a contract to press head with the £25 million scheme after private talks last night.

And it has been revealed that Bradford City have agreed in principle for the Bulls to move to Valley Parade if needed while construction work takes place.

The end of weeks of on-off negotiations was welcomed by Bradford Council leader Councillor Margaret Eaton.

"I am pleased and delighted as Council leader that there has been a significant move forwards in this long saga," she said

"It has taken a lot of negotiation and dealing with extremely sensitive issues."

A report on the scheme will now go as an emergency item to the Council's executive committee on Tuesday. It is widely expected to be approved.

The agreement between the council, Bulls and Sterling Capitol could pave the way for a planning application to be submitted by the end of the year.

An application for funding towards the multi-million cost of making safe a former landfill tip at the Odsal site has also been lodged with Yorkshire Forward - the Government's regeneration body.

It is understood Sterling Capitol and Mr Caisley are to make a joint announcement of their deal.

But in a new twist, multi-millionaire Brendan Larkin - who drew up his own plan for Odsal while the sides were at loggerheads - said he was not withdrawing his scheme.

"I will keep on trying to get Bradford to benefit from my scheme. I don't think Sterling Capitol can deliver. It is far too ambitious," he said.

Sterling Capitol was picked by the council as developer for the stadium last year in competition with a line-up of big known developers, including Alfred McAlpine after the collapse of the grandiose Superdome project.

A main reason for the choice was that the company would be able to deliver the scheme in a tight time-scale.

Shopping giant Tesco has now agreed to come in as a development partner with Sterling Capitol and says it is committed to the scheme.

The past three weeks have seen the stadium development on and off as talks began and then broke down between the parties.

Mr Caisley set the ball rolling on September 25, when he said the Bulls were pulling the plug on the Sterling Capitol scheme because of lack of progress.