WORCESTER City remain confident they will get the green light for a new stadium at Nunnery Way.

A planning application for a new ground, to form part of a £30million St Modwen development between junctions six and seven of the M5, was lodged at the start of the year.

The stadium would take up just under a third of the 20-acre site with the rest set aside for a fitness centre, hotel and car showrooms.

St George’s Lane would be sold for housing and a deal worth £7.36m has been signed with Carey’s New Homes.

A public consultation period ended last Friday and a decision is expected by the end of March.

Previous schemes, some dating back two decades, have failed to get off the ground and, in 2005, a proposal to include a B&Q superstore was thrown out by Worcester City Council.

However, David Hallmark, the club’s director overseeing the project, insists they have now met the requirements and sees no reason why the council should reject it.

He said: “It’s a matter for the council but we have done everything we can to comply with council policy and have had extensive consultations with the planning officers.

“We understand that the drawings and the scheme which has been presented and accepted is consistent with the planning officers’ interpretation of the city policies for both sites. Were the councillors to ignore or overrule the recommendation of the planning officers, they would be exposing themselves to the risk of appeal and the consequences of the outcome of that appeal.

“This is a scheme to implement long-established council policy.

“For the council at this meeting to suddenly decide that the Local Plan policy, approved over many years, is wrong would be a surprise of the highest order.

“Providing we can show that we comply with the policies, then we would expect a prudent planning committee to appreciate that we have delivered in accordance with them.”