FURTHER delays in the planning application for the proposed Circuit of Wales could jeopardise a MotoGP Grand Prix coming to Ebbw Vale in 2015.

Planning developers behind the £250m motorsport circuit fear delays could put back the prospect of a MotoGP championship coming to Rassau until at least 2016.

They also said the number of new jobs created could suffer if they miss out on getting the 2015 MotoGP race.

It comes after National Resources Wales (NRW) released a report last month asking for the current application to be refused by Blaenau Gwent council because of adverse environmental effects.

The council meets tomorrow (July 10) to make a decision on the Circuit of Wales.

In an exclusive interview with the Argus, the chief executive of the company behind the planning for the Circuit of Wales said they had done "all they could" to satisfy environmental standards asked of them.

Peter Thomas, CEO of Insight in Infrastructure, stressed that the decision to build the circuit in Blaenau Gwent, where around a third of working age people are unemployed, was because they wanted to create jobs in the area.

But he admitted that fewer jobs could be available initially if the MotoGP championship was put back a year but was not able to put an exact figure on it.

Mr Thomas said: "The MotoGP championship will be our anchor event. The people of Blaenau Gwent were proud to have the steelworks, and now they could have this, and thousands of new jobs, to be proud of. But it's out of our hands now.

"This project is still viable and it delivers the job opportunities we and the people of Blaenau Gwent want. It’s not just Blaenau Gwent who will benefit but the whole of South Wales as well," he added.

Planners say they have had "constructive discussions" with NRW for over a year, and they remain ongoing.

Heads of the Valleys Development Company, the developers behind the planning application, said it has invested more than £6m at the proposed site, including money spent on mitigating the environmental impact.

Bosses expect the track to attract around 750,000 visitors a year.

Heads of the Valleys say as many as 1,500 training posts could be created and directly funded by the development, as well as providing an academy for safer driving and riding. Up to 3,000 construction jobs and 6,000 operational jobs could be created according to independently verified research.