Bradford City chairman Geoffrey Richmond has warned that his club will not proceed with their £6.5m redevelopment of Valley Parade if it means there is no scope for future expansion.

Richmond has been angered by the comments of some members of the Bradford Council Planning Committee who warned that the club should stop expanding and look for another home when they approved the club's plans for a second tier on the main stand which will raise capacity at Valley Parade to 25,000.

And an angry Mr Richmond has demanded an apology from Councillor Syd Collard, chairman of Bradford Area Planning Sub-Committee, who said he would have voted against the club's plans had he known the size of the new Kop stand and claimed the Council had been misled.

Mr Richmond said: "There is no way that we can proceed with the scheme while this warning shot is bouncing around.

"There is an implied threat to future development at Valley Parade. There is a clear signal from City Hall that they do not want future development at Valley Parade.

"If the club is interpreting this signal correctly then this is extremely serious. We have made no secret of the fact that for this club to be viable in the long term and compete with the top teams we need a stadium which can hold more than 25,000 people."

Richmond revealed that the next stage would be a second tier on the Midland Road Stand and then a re-development of the Bradford end of the ground to raise capacity to around 35,000.

He added: "The signal being sent out seems to contradict other messages coming out of City Hall and I believe we need a public statement from the chief executive or Leader of the Council to clarify the position."

At Monday's meeting of the planning committee, Coun Collard voted against the club's plans and claimed he believed Council had been misled over the size of the new Kop stand.

Coun Collard said: "If I had known how high it was going to be there is no way on earth you could have persuaded me to put my hand up,"

Mr Richmond said: "It is no wonder Bradford is in the state it is if the chairman of planning can make such a claim. I am most unhappy by his insinuation that he was misled and I want him to apologise publicly otherwise I will seek legal redress."

Coun Collard's remarks that the proposed second tier on the new stand would be a monstosity provoked a stinging response from Mr Richmond. "This isn't meant to be the Millennium Dome. It's a football stand and designed to fit that need."

Give Odsal the red card, say City followers

We shall not be moved - that was the cry from Bradford City supporters alarmed at the prospect of a move to Odsal.

City chairman Geoffrey Richmond yesterday reveal-ed the Bantams may consider quitting Valley Parade for a move to a planned super stadium across the city. But in a straw poll by the Telegraph & Argus, City supporters said they would be reluctant to move to Odsal.

The idea of a move was raised by Mr Richmond in the T&A yesterday after Bradford Council left the club in no doubt they wanted no further development of the Valley Parade ground after giving approval for a new £7 million stand extension.

Mr Richmond said they could not ignore the attraction of a planned 30,000-seater state-of-the-art ground planned for Odsal and said it would be remiss of the City board not to at least consider moving to it.

But in a straw poll, most City supporters said they had doubts about quitting Valley Parade because of its emotional attachment.

Lee Golden, 27, a chef from Bradford and avid Bantams supporter, said: "I think it would be a shame to move away from Valley Parade after so many years there.

"The ground holds so many memories for me and is also a memorial in itself to the 56 people who lost their lives in the Bradford fire.

"If the club moved to a ground in Odsal all of the clubs tradition would be lost and it would be fitting to have a memorial containing a piece of the old ground."

Michael Booth, 45, a City fan from Bradford, said: "I think a move to Odsal would be putting the club before the supporters and that would anger many fans.

"I think it would be upsetting for the families of those who died in the fire if Bradford were to abandon Valley Parade."

Bradford Bulls fans have also opposed the plans, voicing fears that the club will lose it's identity to the city's football team.

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