EVERTON FC’s second bid to build luxury homes on its former Bellefield training ground looks likely to finally be approved.

In 2008, the council blocked the club’s plans to build homes on the site after around 220 residents complained.

Last year, a planning inspector then quashed the club’s appeal.

But now, after changes in planning policies, the club’s latest attempt to build 74 homes on the site off Sandforth Road, in West Derby, is being recommended for approval by council officials.

Once more the plans have attracted criticism from local residents.

The council has received 138 letters of objection, voicing the same concerns as those mentioned when the first planning application was under discussion.

They are mainly concerned about increased traffic, extra pressure on local schools, doctors and dentists, and the loss of open space.

When the club’s appeal against the original rejection was thrown out, a planning inspector said the project would harm the city’s Housing Market Renewal Initiative (HMRI).

The HMRI strategy sets out priority areas for new homes and Bellefield does not fall within it.

The inspector said there was nothing to suggest the plans would have a detrimental effect on the living conditions of residents by virtue of the increased traffic movements.