Chairman Geoffrey Rich-mond says Bradford City will be plunged into crisis if councillors turn down the club's plans for a 7,300 all-seater stand.

Residents in nearby Rock Terrace object to the development claiming it will block out light to their properties and hit house prices.

However officers have recommended permission be refused and Richmond has warned of the consequences if the councillors agree.

Richmond, who is appealing for fans to write to their councillors, said: "If planning permission is turned down then Valley Parade will become the home of a team without ambition.

"The club will be plunged into crisis and the considerable progress we have made will be seriously jeopardised.

"It is inevitable that we would have to scale down our ambitions. We would be the laughing stock of the football world. If we are in the Premiership and live on television, what sort of message does a three-sided ground send out. It would be a terrible image for the city of Bradford."

Asked whether a refusal of planning permission could spell the end of Valley Parade as City's home, he replied: "I dare not even contemplate the effects of a refusal.

"But where are the possible sites for us in the city?"

Council officers are recommending the plans be turned down because of a lack of disabled facilities and the loss of amenities for the residents in Rock Terrace.

Richmond said: "There will be a disabled lift in the new stand and the facilities will be comprehensive."

The City chief admits that the new stand will bring problems for the residents of Rock Terrace, but added that the club have offered to underwrite the value of each house should prices fall from today's market value at any time in the next five years.

The City chief said: "If, for example, one of the houses is valued today at £35,000 by an independent valuer and the house owner can only sell it for £25,000 in three years time, the club will pay the difference.

"We have also offered to improve street lighting and tarmac the unadopted road.

"One of the residents who claims to be speaking for all 11 properties wrote to say that if the club were prepared to offer £75,000 for each house then a solution could be found. We can't afford that."

If planning permission is granted work will start on the new stand next month to ensure it is ready for the start of the 1999-2000 season.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.