THE Love Street home of St Mirren is set to be sold for housing after Tesco ditched plans to build a superstore on the site.

THE Love Street home of St Mirren is set to be sold for housing after Tesco ditched plans to build a superstore on the site.

And the supermarket giant has confirmed the stadium will be sold to developers if it secures permission to build a store in Renfrew Road in Paisley.

The proposal would see a Tesco Extra built on industrial land off Wallneuk Road.

The Buddies will sever their 114-year tie with the park in January and move to a new stadium at Greenhill Road, as part of a £15m deal with Tesco.

But it has shelved plans to develop Love Street and will apply for outline planning permission for housing on the historic ground early next year.

Jennifer Duncan, Tesco corporate affairs manager, said: "Renfrew Road is the preferred location in Paisley.

"The site is closer to the centre and would help regenerate the town.

"We will be submitting two planning applications, one for the proposed new store, and one for housing at Love Street."

Ironically, Saints had to fight to get planning permission for a supermarket at Love Street.

The cash generated by selling the site directly for housing, thought to be around £5million, would not have been enough to clear the club's debts and fund the new stadium.

A series of public exhibitions about the Renfrew Road store, which could create 600 jobs, will start tonight. Tesco officials will be on hand to answer questions from the public at The Wynd Centre, in the town's School Wynd, between 6pm and 9pm today, and 10am to 6pm, on Thursday and Friday.

Unless they draw a home tie in the Scottish Cup, Love Street will shut for the final time after the SPL clash with Motherwell on January 3.

Barr Construction is entering the final phase of building work on a stadium in Ferguslie.

It should host its first match when Kilmarnock arrive on January 31.