The developer behind the regeneration of Longbridge said public money will have to be forthcoming eventually to complete the project after it was unsuccessful in its Regional Growth Fund application.

Birmingham-based St Modwen had bid for funding to improve the infrastructure around the scheme which will eventually include the new Bournville College campus, a new Longbridge town centre, housing and various commercial developments.

However, Bill Oliver, chief executive of St Modwen, said there was only so much that could be achieved without financial support.

“It is extremely disappointing that the Longbridge Regional Growth Fund application was not successful in this first round of submissions,” he said. “The redevelopment of Longbridge has always required public sector funding to deliver the extensive infrastructure envisaged by the Area Action Plan which was required for the creation of jobs in the area.

“St Modwen will deliver the next phase of development which incorporates the £70 million town centre and park without the need to enhance further the road capacity beyond the £7 million of works St Modwen currently has underway. However, future development phases at Longbridge will remain very reliant on public sector or alternative forms of funding.

“If additional funding is not received in the near future, some of the Area Action Plan objectives for Longbridge will have to be reviewed in the light of available funding and market conditions. St Modwen will therefore be submitting a second stage application to the RGF in a bid to secure these overall objectives for the future of Longbridge.”

However there was some success for St Modwen as engineering group Alstom UK received £4 million of RGF funding for an investment programme at its Alstom Grid facilities in Stafford, which is owned by the property company.

Ian Romano, senior development surveyor at St Modwen, added: “As landowner and developer of this 54 acre site, St Modwen is now looking forward to working closely with Alstom to implement the first phase of their engineering centre of excellence.”

Elsewhere none of the bids endorsed by the Marches LEP were successful although chair Dr Geoffrey Davies was philosophical.

He said: “Although naturally disappointed that bids for funding from the Marches region were not successful in this first round, we are looking forward to round two.”

The second round was launched on April 12 with more than twice the available funds from round one.