EVERTON FC may not have enough money to move to Kirkby, an inquiry heard yesterday.

The club’s lawyer has claimed that blocking its plans for Bellefield, the club’s former training ground, will make the situation worse and jeopardise massive regeneration opportunities across Merseyside.

But prospective MP for West Derby, and former school standards minister Stephen Twigg, used the club’s appeal hearing at Holiday Inn, Lime Street, to join the attack on the Bellefield redevelopment proposals.

He told planning inspector Karen Ridge that developing 74 executive family homes on the former training ground would massively increase traffic on Sandforth Road, Eaton Road and the junction to Queens Drive.

Speaking to the Daily Post after the inquiry yesterday, he said: “The noise created, as well as the loss of green space, will directly impact the residential amenity of residents on Sandforth Road.”

His comments followed Everton’s traffic consultant Andrew Dmoch’s admission that traffic would rise by more than 40% – 10% over Environmental Assessment Guidelines. But he said: “It would still say it’s not a material increase.”

Traffic issues came to the fore last June when 220 letters of objection were sent to Liverpool City Council.

However, yesterday Mr Dmoch explained the layout of the road and the existing road calming solutions would keep noise down.

Liverpool City Council’s lawyer Paul Tucker also questioned whether the development would be of any benefit to Liverpool.

But Frances Patterson, Everton’s QC, said regeneration created by the £400m scheme in Kirkby would spill across local authority boundaries and would benefit people in Liverpool as well as Knowsley.