Increased capacity can keep Wasps at Wycombe

London Wasps are only likely to make the Causeway Stadium their long-term home if the ground capacity can be increased to at least 12,500 in the near future.

Access issues are also still a major concern, while health and safety rules at the High Wycombe ground mean no more than 10,000 spectators can be accepted into a stadium with just over 11,000 seats.

Wasps announced yesterday they are to stay there for another year - their third - as tenants of Wycombe Wanderers.

Chris Wright, the Wasps chairman and owner, admitted that a longer-term decision would have to be made "in the next 12 months".

Since moving from Loftus Road two years ago, season ticket sales have increased by 68 per cent to around 3,000 while overall gates are up by 32 per cent.

Average attendances are expected to be around 8,000 by the end of this season but if Wasps want to rival teams such as Leicester, Gloucester and Northampton, they need to attract crowds of between 12,500 and 15,000. That aim will lie at the heart of Wasps's decision about whether to stay at Wycombe.