Work on Oxford United's long-awaited stadium could start within a week if a vital planning application is given the go-ahead today, writes Mark Templeton.

Club chairman Firoz Kassam said he expected work to restart at Minchery Farm immediately if Oxford City Council approves his multi-million pound leisure complex next to the site.

But he warned: "I've had so many obstacles to overcome in the last 18 months that I'm taking nothing for granted any more."

Mr Kassam added: "It has always been my intention to start work at the stadium straight away, once the leisure development is approved."

Mr Kassam wants to build a complex made up of a nine-screen cinema, a 26-lane bowling alley, a nightclub, a bingo hall, and dance and aerobic studios. He has had to face High Court battles over the 15,000-seater stadium, where work stopped in 1996, but with legal arguments behind him he is now keen to get the football ground built.

The council, which is just as keen to see the development go ahead, meets today to discuss the leisure application, which is seen as the final hurdle to restarting work.

Councillors are being recommended to give the plans approval, but officers warn that a further study of the site's archeological history will have to be done.

A report says that an initial investigation has taken place, but remains incomplete.

The report said: "The site contains archeological material that relates to the former priory and Roman pottery industry, as well as some peat deposits of archeological interest."