City of Doncaster Council has set aside the cash for legal negotiations with owners Peel Group but said talks “have not yielded a positive outcome to date”.

A council report noted: “Therefore, due to the significant impact on the economy, the council proposes to continue to make preparations to promote a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) as a contingency measure alongside the negotiations, as a means of last resort in the event negotiations to acquire by agreement are unsuccessful.” 

The report said Peel Group wished to develop the 800-acre site. 

It added: “The Peel Group has concluded that the airport is not commercially viable but chose not to actively seek to sell the airport to other potential owners or operators. 

“Instead, Peel, which also owns neighbouring land at Gateway East, has indicated that it wishes to develop the airport site for alternative uses.”

The airport, which handled 1.4 million passengers in 2019, closed in November after Wizz Air pulled its flying programme at short notice, leaving only Tui Airways as a regular customer. Efforts to reopen in time for the current summer season have so far stalled.

A stumbling block to any deal will be the purchase price, with Doncaster Council saying the £3.1 million allocated excludes the cost of acquisition.