WARRIORS chairman Cecil Duckworth has conceded that plans to transform Sixways into one of the country's top rugby union venues may not be complete until the 2008/9 season.

There will be a new sports centre built on the site which should be ready for next summer and it is hoped the new permanent North Stand will be finished before the start of next season.

But Duckworth admits it could be a further 12 months before the new development, which will increase ground capacity to around 13,500, is finished.

"It's a two-year project which we are planning for a new North Stand, a new road system and new sports centre," he said.

"The supporter operation will include a 25-metre indoor pool, six indoor tennis courts, four or five outdoor tennis courts, a badminton court and sports hall and a health and fitness operation and all those things that go with modern state-of-the-art health clubs. We expect that to be open in summer of 2008.

"The North Stand we intend building at the same time. Our ambition was that could possibly be open at the beginning of 2007/8. We now feel it's unlikely to happen and we are going to concentrate on getting that for season 2008/9.

"The new road system should start in February with a park-and-ride system. There will be an extensive park-and-ride system operating from here at Sixways. That will link up with the city. There will be an outlet into Wainwright road.

"So that will be a significant benefit to the community at large but also to us on matchdays because that's when the park-and-ride will be suspended."

Duckworth describes the changes as "a quantum leap forward" which will "put us in the top league as far as capacity and facilities are concerned".

He added: "We are in the top half of the league in that respect at the moment and we have got ambitions to be more than the top half of the division from a playing point of view."