A £135 million bid to transform London's Millennium Dome into a huge sport and entertainment auditorium has been made by a York man.

Paul Stansfield, of developers Pilton Group plc, left York 10 years ago after selling his firm of estate agents, Stansfield's, based in New Lane.

Mr Stansfield, who left St Peter's School to become an office boy at 16, lived on The Mount before moving to London.

His company's bid was to turn the Dome into an arena for rock concerts and sports including boxing, tennis and athletics.

Entrepreneur Robert Bourne's company, Legacy, has been named as the Government's preferred bidder for its plan to turn the Dome into a business "mini-city."

But Mr Stansfield said his bid would continue to develop in case the Legacy scheme fell through.

He said: "For the good of the country, the Dome ought to be an auditorium.

"Wembley is going to be closed for some years, and England will miss having a major auditorium capable of hosting big sporting or entertainment events.

"We certainly haven't given up. We will use this time to make sure we are in a really good position so that we can step in if we get the chance."

Legacy has until February to complete the groundwork for the bid, said Mr Stansfield.

And, if anything goes wrong in that bid, his company will be ready to step in.

He said: "We've had support from organisations and individuals including Ministry of Sound and Harvey Goldsmith.

"The national support we have been given has been unbelievable."

adam.nichols@ycp.co.uk