SPECULATION is mounting that Worcester City Football Club is on the brink of securing a move to a new home.

A major development company has bought 20 acres of land at Nunnery Way for £3.15 million, and is hoping to make it the new base for the St George's Lane team.

The Worcester News can reveal the club is locked in "detailed discussions" with St Modwen Properties about making the historic move across the city.

Hopes are high the deal can be sealed, bringing an end to 102 years of football at its current site.

The site has been identified by Worcester City Council as a new football ground for a decade, and is still in the local plan.

The developer will now work with the club in drawing up a masterplan for the new stadium before submitting it to the Guildhall.

Julie Rossiter, of St Modwen Properties, said: "This is another strategic acquisition in Worcester where we have had a long tradition of investment and development involvement, being the birthplace of part of the business which led to St Modwen's creation.

"We will now prepare a masterplan for the site and apply for planning approval."

The plans for the new stadium will have to be carefully drawn up after a Government planning inspector said in 2004 the ground should not need enabling development' such as retail.

The football club hoped that retail stores, including a new B&Q, would help pay for a 6,000-seater stadium. The new stadium plans will have to go ahead without a retail development to help fund it.

A Worcester City FC spokesman said: "We can confirm the club is in detailed discussions with St Modwen about the site, and those discussions are ongoing."

City council planning officer Paul O'Connor said: "It is great St Modwen has bought the site, and it will be important to see how the proposal for a new Worcester City FC football stadium can be accommodated without the need for retail on the site.

"It is essential we have a quality stadium for this very important football club."

The site was bought from the Nunnery Way Partnership and the Thomas family.

St Modwen owns a number of industrial estates in Worcester. Its application for a business park on the Tolladine goods yard site will be discussed by city planners on Thursday.