A RESIDENTS' group is warning councillors against accepting the dangled carrot of a B&Q retail development to finance a move for Worcester City Football Club.

Keith Burton, the chairman of the Spetchley Road area Residents Association, is not against a proposed state-of-the-art stadium for the blue and whites off Nunnery Way.

But he believes a B&Q retail development, which is against the Local Plan, alongside the 6,000-seater stadium, would not be good for the future of Worcester.

He believes looking at projects such as Worcestershire Royal Hospital and St Richard's Hospice reveal one reason why the extra development should not go ahead.

"We don't have a big problem with the football stadium, but we do have a problem with the private finance initiative to fund it," he said.

"You only have to look at the hospital where there is not enough parking - partly because of the three blocks of offices standing at the entrance.

"No one is against the hospice, which is great news, but there will be a 400-capacity office block alongside it to fund part of the development.

"To some extent there are always things involved which do not fit and an enormous B&Q development would not be good for the area."

The residents' group, whose road would be one of the most affected by the proposed development, believes the extra retail facility would create more traffic cutting through County Hall.

"We are just getting things right shopping-wise in the city with a new retail development for Tallow Hill," said Mr Burton.

"We want councillors to ignore the amounts of money being dangled in front of them and ask if going against the Local Plan is good for Worcester."

The scheme will be discussed at Worcester City Council's cabinet meeting on Tuesday, November 26.

If councillors support the bid, a Local Plan enquiry will make a final decision on whether it can go ahead.