Coventry City Council has been criticised for 'blocking' a petition asking for a review into the controversial sale of CBS Arena to Wasps RFC.

Back in 2014 councillors voted to allow Wasps to buy its 50 per cent stake in the arena and the rugby club completed a full takeover a month later.

Members of the public now want this decision to be reviewed after Wasps went into administration in September, resulting in tycoon Mike Ashley buying the arena.

But a petition for an investigation into the sale was not allowed to be put on the council website last month after officers intervened.

Council officers backed by leader Cllr George Duggins claimed the petition request was 'inappropriate' as the council can't commission a public enquiry and the decision has already been subjected to judicial reviews.

But opposition leader Cllr Gary Ridley strongly objected and warned officers it could set a "worrying precedent".

"In a democracy, I believe that there should be a very high bar for blocking petitions," he wrote.

"Whether we think there should be a review or not, it is a legitimate question for a resident to ask and this sets a worrying precedent for the future."

He said rejecting the petition could lead to further bad feeling among residents who disagreed with the 2014 sale. 

Cllr Ridley also argued that the petition's text calls not for a public enquiry but an 'independent review,' which the council does have the power to launch.

He added that judicial reviews of the sale dealt simply with whether it was legal or not, rather than if it was good for Coventry taxpayers.

Cllr Ridley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "I felt very strongly about it. It was wrong to deny people the right to have a say – to try to hide behind technicalities, to deny them a voice is just wrong."

But council leader Cllr George Duggins disagreed that the decision to refuse the petition could pose a problem for democracy.

He told the LDRS: "I don't think it's a lack of democracy, I'm elected through a process to lead this council. Democracy comes in elections, I am elected to make decisions."

He also defended the decision to back officers in rejecting the petition request, saying: "You just sometimes have to say no. It's not tenable, it's not viable for people to call for enquiries into previous council decisions that they haven't liked."

"We don't have the capacity to go over previous decisions, to me that's the most important thing. It would not then just be confined to one area, there would be decision after decision."

The title of the failed petition was: "Public inquiry into the decision to sell the CBS Arena to Wasps Rugby Club."

It stated: "We the undersigned petition the Council to Launch a full, independent review of the decision by CCC to sell the CBS Arena to Wasps Rugby Club, given the news that they have today been suspended from the RPL. Analyse whether due process was followed and other parties were invited to bid in order the provide the best return for local constituents."

A spokesperson for Coventry City Council told the LDRS: "The petitions officer considered whether it was appropriate to host this petition, as a public inquiry is not something that the local authority can commission and only the Government has authority to commission a public inquiry.

"We also considered the appropriateness of hosting it as the details of this matter had been subject of extensive legal examination in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court since it happened.

"This is one of the most well scrutinised decisions and so for these reasons our provisional view therefore, was that it was not appropriate to host it.

"Councillor Duggins agreed with this view but Councillor Ridley thought that the Council should host the petition.

"As a result we contacted the petitioner to request that they contact us to discuss how we could proceed, unfortunately the petitioner has not replied as yet."