Taxpayers money will be used to buy a Hampshire sporting venue – despite experts admitting the business is currently “unsustainable”.

Councillors on Eastleigh Borough Council last night gave the final green light to investing more than £35m into the Ageas Bowl in West End – funding a luxury hotel complex and buying a 999-year lease for the ground's land and buildings.

But papers written by council officers and circulated at the beginning of last night's meeting stated that draft accounts for the Ageas Bowl from December 2011 to May 2012 showed “the company continues to make losses which are unsustainable for the future”.

The Daily Echo's reporter and members of the public at the meeting were excluded for a large proportion of the debate, as councillors discussed “commercially sensitive” information that had been kept secret in the run up to the meeting.

Conservative councillor, Judith Grajewski, questioned the need to keep financial information from the public.

She said: “I'm disappointed on several counts – that so much is confidential and not in the public domain.

“I ask myself if so much of the information has to be withheld from the public, is this deal within the scope of the council's remit?”

“We are where we are because no company in the private sector wanted to take on the risk, yet this council wants to expose the council tax payer to this risk.”

Leader of the ruling Lib Dem party, Keith House , argued that developing the Ageas Bowl, formerly known as the Rose Bowl , would give the area a huge economic boost and generate returns for the council.

He said: “We have a package to create a world class facility, create a large number of jobs and also to see an economic return, with £50m a year going into our local economy.”

Councillors were asked to decide if 14 outstanding issues regarding the Ageas Bowl scheme had been resolved and if the chief executive of the council could be given the power to finally sign off the deal, once last minute negotiations had ended between the council and Sport England.

They voted in favour by 36 votes to four votes, paving the way for the scheme to go ahead.

The Daily Echo understands that building could now start at the Ageas Bowl within a matter of weeks.