Football club accepts city offer

A cemetery is likely to get the go-ahead to extend on to football pitches after council leaders agreed to find other facilities for the club.

Aylestone Park FC, which has 36 teams, had objected to the proposals for Saffron Hill Cemetery. It claimed it had invested money into the pitches.

Leicester City Council, which leases the land to the club, has agreed to find it other pitches to play on.

It said the land near Saffron Lane was needed for extra graves.

'Reasonably happy'

Officers have recommended that the council's planning committee approve the proposals at a meeting on Tuesday.

The club is likely to be allowed to play at the former Mary Linwood School pitches, which will become part of the proposed City Academy.

A council report said: "The APFC states that it is reasonably happy with the negotiations which have taken place about the future provision of facilities."

The club has played on the site off Saffron Lane since the early 1990s - and some pitches will remain.