EASTLEIGH Borough Council is ready to go to court to defend its move to invest millions of pounds in taxpayers’ money on building a hotel and conference centre.

The full council has agreed overwhelmingly to take on a trio of hotel giants who have applied for a judicial review of the decision to bankroll the project at the home of Hampshire cricket, the Rose Bowl, at West End.

The hoteliers, from Meridian Leisure, MacDonald Hotels and Shire Hotel, lodged the legal challenge in an attempt to stop the council spending £32.2m on the redevelopment.

While the council is confident of winning the legal battle, it could cost another £250,000 and the delay while the case is waiting to be heard could put the ground’s much-prized 2011 test match against Sri Lanka in jeopardy.

A lengthy delay would mean the council having to revise its projections to see if the deal was still financially viable.

Council leader, Keith House, said: “We need to ask ourselves what kind of Eastleigh we want, a positive one or one full of doom and gloom. This is the right project at the right time.”

Tory councillor, Colin Davidovitz, disputed what Mr House said, adding: “It is quite obvious that there are huge risks associated with this scheme. By taking on the building of this hotel itself, the council is in danger of carrying them all.”

He also informed the council that, in 2007, Rose Bowl PLC had a net worth of only £113,000 and to give the appearance of a stronger financial company, it had created an accounting revaluation surplus to boost its balance sheet to £14.7m.

A statement from the hoteliers read: “There are, of course, risks arising from these arrangements and therefore risks to the council taxpayers.

“The people of Eastleigh must be entitled to know the extent of these risks, in pounds and pence, and what local services will be cut back or closed if, following the scheme, the council is drowning in debt.”

After two hours of debate the council voted 32-6 in favour of defending the judicial review.

There was one abstention.