PARTY IN THE PARK

Liverpool's proposed move to a purpose-built stadium on Stanley Park edged a step closer to reality last night when the deputy prime minister John Prescott gave them the green light for work on the project to commence.

The chief executive Rick Parry received confirmation upon his arrival in Athens that the secretary of state for local government and the regions would not be holding a public inquiry into the plans, effectively allowing them to start work on the 55,000 capacity all-seat stadium. Liverpool will now weigh up the finances on a scheme, which has already seen prospective costs rise from £80m to nearly £120m.

"The next step for us is to secure funding and finalise details of the design," said Parry. "We are confident we will secure that funding but we will only proceed if it is a viable project. We are not going to bankrupt ourselves or overstretch the club. It's not just a case of: 'Can we find the money?' It's whether we can pay it back.

"But this is extremely good news, a very big step forward and we're delighted with the decision. It's not necessarily the final legal hurdle we could face. There could still be an application for a judicial review, but it's still a significant step forward. We remain on target for 2007. Hopefully, the building work will begin in spring next year."