STOKE City's £5 million deal to buy the Britannia Stadium has finally been completed – two-and-a-half years after it was agreed.

The club is making its final payment of £1.25 million to Stoke-on-Trent City Council today.

The transaction completes the club's buy-out of the council's 36 per cent stake in the former community stadium, which it helped to finance in 1997.

However, controversy surrounding the agreement is likely to linger well into the New Year, when the Audit Commission is expected to deliver its long-awaited report into the stadium sale.

The Government watchdog and the council's own internal auditors have already spent 14 months investigating the deal, approved by councillors in June 2007.

The Sentinel understands that publication was delayed to allow former council manager Steve Robinson, now chief executive of Cheshire West and Cheshire Council, to comment on the findings.

The inquiry followed complaints from some councillors that they were not given all the facts ahead of the crucial full council vote.

They claimed members were not told the repayments would be staggered over three years, or that interest would not be charged on the outstanding balance. Some Stoke ward members are upset that the cash was not set aside to pay for specific regeneration schemes in the town, as senior officers had promised.

Documents obtained by The Sentinel show that Stoke City paid the council an initial instalment of £2 million on December 21, 2007, followed a year later by £1.25 million and today's final payment.

The purchase agreement also required the club to invest at least £500,000 in community projects.

Stoke City chairman Peter Coates, pictured, said: "Buying the Britannia made sense to us as it's better to own your own stadium.

"The idea of paying the money in instalments came from us, obviously, as we were looking to be in the best possible commercial position.

"It was certainly the right thing for us to do, but I think it was also beneficial for all of the parties involved, not just for the club."

He added: "I don't think that buying the stadium necessarily helped us get promoted, but it was certainly a better arrangement for us financially and it served a purpose at the time."

Councillor Mike Barnes, who called for the Audit Commission probe, is dismayed that the repayments on the stadium have been completed before the audit report.

He said: "I'm very concerned that we were promised by the district auditor that we would have the report before the end of October, and yet we are still waiting.

"I asked who had authorised the payment arrangements and why the full council was not told about the instalments.

"It doesn't seem like a very complicated request and I would like to know what is taking the Audit Commission so long."

The council's cabinet member for resources, Councillor Kieran Clarke, said the council had not lost any money.

He said: "We got back more than we originally put into the stadium, and it was money we would not otherwise have had to spend. The money was used to finance the development of the Stoke Local Centre, and by funding it directly we saved about £240,000 a year in capital interest payments."