PLANS for improved facilities at Bromsgrove's Victoria Ground have been supported by councillors to ensure the stadium meets safety requirements.

Worcestershire County Council planners accepted a report pledging new turnstile counters at Bromsgrove Sporting Football Club's home ground this morning, following a breach of its safety certificate earlier this year.

Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service carried out a routine inspection during a match on April 15, when it was discovered that the number of safety stewards on duty was inadequate to supervise the volume of spectators.

An investigation was then carried out by the county council, which enforces the conditions of the certificate, where it was identified there had been a higher-than-expected turn-out by fans paying at the gate, rendering the stewarding arrangements insufficient.

Emergency planning manager Nick Riding, said: "There has been one breach at the Victoria Ground over the last 12 months, mainly to do with how the club counts people into the facility.

"The amount of people turning up and paying at the gate that afternoon took the local club by surprise. It was one of those weekends where not very many football matches are on due to international fixtures, meaning that more paying members of the public turned up for that particular match.

"The turnstile facilities weren't able to count the number of people coming in with a pre-paid ticket versus those paying by cash on the day. We remedied this with strong recommendations to how they [Bromsgrove Sporting] should conduct themselves in future in terms of improving the facilities and match day intelligence."

He said the Birmingham Road ground had undergone a 'renaissance' in recent years and was a 'very good first-class facility', shared by Worcester City Football Club.

The new high-tech turnstiles, set to be installed by the start of next season, will enable pay-on-the-day and ticket stubs to be recorded.

Mike Burke, chairman of Bromsgrove Sporting, said: "We had more than enough stewards last season but there was one match where we underestimated the amount of fans that would come.

"Obviously we try and guestimate as close as possible to how many will turn up on the day, and nowadays we know it's going to be higher because of our success.

"Counters on turnstiles are important but they don't tell us in advance exactly how many fans will be turning up. We already count the number of people coming in and this is announced at every match.

"We have a great stadium - it's very safe and we have great facilities. Since I've been chairman we're always looking to become more professional and do things at a standard well above our level so that when we reach a higher level we're fit for purpose.

"Electronic turnstile counters are more efficient and are one of these things that haven't been important in the past but something we will prioritise looking forward."