Liverpool given green light by city councillors to expand Anfield to 54,000 seats

Liverpool have moved a step closer to extending Anfield by 8,500 sets after their proposal was recommended for approval by planners.

The club are hoping to start redevelopment on the main stand at the end of December this year or in January 2015, a move that will take the stadium from ito a capacity of 54,000.

A decision will be made on 23 September and should the expansion be given full approval, work will take 20 months to complete and cost around £150million.

Liverpool are hopeful they can eventually have Anfield hold 58,800.

A 70-page report, seen by the Liverpool Echo, reveals that the stand will not fully close but that two large cranes will help lift steel girders into place while a memorial garden for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster is also part of the design.

A statement from opposition group the Anfield Rockfield Area Committee say the community is being "held to ransom" over plans for the stadium.