ACCRINGTON Stanley’s £1.2million ground development has fallen through.

Plans to revamp the Crown Ground, which were first revealed last year, had depended on funding from the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative, known as LEGI.

Chief Executive Rob Heys has now confirmed that LEGI funding is now not a possibility and the club's 'plan B' to buy Blackpool FC’s temporary stand is also not an option.

Plans to improve the grou-nd with LEGI funding would have involved new changing rooms, redeveloping the car park and replacing the temporary cabin control room with a purpose-built facility.

Mr Heys said he was disappointed. But he felt the LEGI funding would have 'tied the club down' to the Crown Ground 'for a number of years, which we didn't want'.

He said: “We didn't want to do that because we may want to look at a new site at some point in the future.

“There are a few things like the changing rooms that we want to do something with.”

The development had involved putting a roof on the Coppice Terrace, and putting the entire ground under cover.

Mr Hayes said: "We considered buying a stand from Blackpool but we would have had to put some extra cover in on the Whinney Hill side and the cost would have been prohibitive."

The club will now consider installing temporary terrac-ing to meet the Foot-ball League's minimum capacity and look at their options again in a few years.