Liverpool new stadium

LIVERPOOL FC’s third stadium plan has been approved.

Councillors gave the go-ahead to the £350m proposal for a 60,000-seater ground in Stanley Park at Liverpool town hall.

It is the third time in five years the council has backed a stadium scheme from the Reds, but it is still unclear when work will start.

The club’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett ordered a massive redesign of the original proposal when they took over last year and their plan was approved last summer.

But it was shelved and redrawn a second time by Dallas-based architects HKS earlier this year when the tycoons decided it was too expensive.

The council’s planning committee backed a scheme showing a number of crucial changes, notably a smaller underground car park beneath the stadium and a reduced height.

The alterations do not affect the restoration of the rest of Stanley Park, which is already underway.

A number of residents, community leaders and heritage experts objected, but the plan was eventually backed unanimously by the nine-man committee.

Chairman Dave Irving, who visited the stadium site, said: “We had a good look at the park and saw the work being carried out on some of the listed buildings.

“It is quite exciting and will certainly benefit Anfield’s regeneration.”