Roundhay Park: Plans for 80,000 Ed Sheeran concert capacity approved

Ed Sheeran is due to play two huge summer shows at Roundhay Park in Leeds

Plans to turn a Leeds city park into one of the biggest outdoor concert venues in England have been approved.

Capacity for shows at Roundhay Park can reach almost 80,000 people after a licensing committee agreed the move ahead of two huge Ed Sheeran gigs.

The previous limit for live events at the park was close to 20,000 attendees. The star is due to play there on 16 and 17 August.

More than 115,000 tickets have already been sold for his summer concerts.

The move puts the park's capacity on a par with Leeds Festival in Bramham Park, but it may be downgraded after the Sheeran concerts take place, the BBC's Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

An events officer told the meeting at Leeds Civic Hall: "These events are exceptional - there is no interest in other events, so it is likely that we would reduce it back down afterwards."

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The capacity increase received 20 written objections, with concerns including increased traffic and anti-social behaviour.

The capacity for live events at the Roundhay Park has quadrupled ahead of the shows

Some of rock and pop's biggest names performed in the park in the 1980s and 1990s, including the Rolling Stones, Madonna, U2, Michael Jackson and Genesis.

The last time Roundhay Park was used for such a large event was a Robbie Williams concert in 2006.