THE bid to 'bring City home' could be about to move a big step closer – with plans for a new football ground in Worcester set to go before planners next week.

The stadium plans have split opinion among people in the city, with petitions for and against attracting 1,000 names each.

But planning officers are recommending the plans are approved when they go before Worcester City Council's planning committee on Thursday, June 22.

The revised plans for the scheme, at Perdiswell Park, were submitted to the city council in March – although the original application was first drawn up as far back as April 2014.

They detail a 4,400-capacity site, featuring tiered stands, a supporters bar, conference room, directors lounge and club shop.

The club's supporter's trust, which has fought a long battle to get it to this stage, says the recommendation for approval is a big boost.

Rob Crean, from the trust, said: "It has taken a long time, five years, to get to this point.

"We used that time to ensure it is a robust application, answering all concerns, so that it could be minded for approval.

"We are hopeful, we hope it will be good news.

"If it is approved we move to the next stage. There is still a way to go."

In the planning report, the council's deputy director for economic development and planning says: "Overall it is considered that the proposals constitute an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable form of development that accords with the framework and the plan (the South Worcestershire Development Plan) as a whole."

The stadium would be built on the park near the Birmingham to Worcester Canal, and the recently revamped Perdiswell Leisure Centre.

It would also have 15-metre high floodlit columns and a separate 3G all-weather pitch, with extra landscaping around it to limit the impact on the rest of the park, off Bilford Road.

Supporters are desperate for City to return to Worcester having been in exile since leaving St George's Lane in 2013, and playing 'home' fixtures in Kidderminster and Bromsgrove.

Last season was also disappointing on the pitch, the club suffering their first relegation in 32 years and dropping to England's ninth tier.

The planning committee meets at Worcester Guildhall, in the High Street, at 1.30pm on Thursday, June 22.