Wrexham AFC: Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds face Kop expansion challenge

Plans to expand Wrexham AFC's new Kop stand have been challenged over concerns about parking and traffic. Highways officers say the area around the SToK Cas Ras cannot cope with the extra demand from an increase in crowds. The Championship club wants to raise the stand's initial size to 7,750 - an increase of 2,250 - taking the stadium capacity to 17,250 overall.

But officials say the data used to support the plans is flawed and underestimates the impact on matchdays. The council's chief executive said there were some planning issues to address but they remained committed to working with the club to help with solutions, wherever possible. The additional capacity would increase parking demand by more than 1,800 – far more than the area can cope with.

"Overall occupancy of available off-street parking on matchdays was recorded as 1,840 vehicles shortly before kick-off on matchdays," the Local Highways Authority (LHA) stated in a report to Wrexham council's planning committee. "That equates to approximately 59% utilisation with around 1,330 spaces available at that time. " Highways officials say assumptions of 2.

4 people-per-car mean calculations based on the increased capacity would lead to an estimated additional 1,841 vehicles on match days. "This exceeds the 1,330 off-street spaces identified as available at peak time and suggests that additional demand would need to be accommodated elsewhere, including on the surrounding highway network," said their report. On-street parking surveys from this season show that capacity is already maxed out - meaning there is nowhere for the additional traffic to go.