Northampton Town: Plans for unfinished East Stand revealed

The East Stand at Northampton Town's stadium remains unfinished but seats were put back in March 2016

Plans to complete a football stand at the centre of a long-running financial saga have been shown to fans.

Northampton Town FC, under its previous owners, was loaned £10.25m from Northampton Borough Council to refurbish its East Stand - before work stalled in 2014.

The whereabouts of the money has since been the subject of a police inquiry.

Chairman Kelvin Thomas said the club wanted to "try and finish [the stand] to the best level possible".

The plans include pitch-facing hospitality, which the club currently does not have, and a viewing platform for disabled people.

There will also be new car parking and facilities for the club's Community Trust and education department.

Computer generated images of what the completed stand will look like have been shown to West Northamptonshire Council

Mr Thomas, who took over the club in 2015, said the plans "take into account the financial sensibilities of making sure the club spends money appropriately".

The club also now owns the leases for about 22 acres of land next to the stadium, which has been earmarked for development.

West Northamptonshire Council, which replaced Northampton Borough Council, has agreed the stand should be completed before any other development takes place, the club said.

Mr Thomas said the council had "given us an initial positive reaction" to the plans.

Northampton Town showed the plans to fans during an open session at the stadium on Friday

He said the authority was going through an independent process "evaluating our offer to them and the overall value of the site".

"The reality is the council owns the freehold, the club holds the leasehold, but the ideal agreement is if the club can buy the freehold on the land, but only exercise that option once the East Stand is completed," he added.

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Northampton Town was originally loaned than £10.25m to refurbish the stand and redevelop the land, but the contractors - Buckingham Group - left the site in 2014 because they were not paid.

Work resumed the following year but when payments still were not made the contractors downed tools again, putting the development company responsible for the project - 1st Land Ltd - into administration.

Seven people have been charged with electoral offences by police investigating the loan.

The plans will see a new car park behind the East Stand

The club said the East Stand would be built with funds from the owners of the football club, and it was not asking for any taxpayers' money from the council.

It added that any excess funds generated from the development land or any land surrounding the stadium site would be "for the benefit of the football club".

There will be further consultation with fans and stakeholders over the design and facilities before the plans are finalised, the club said.