Why not go to the Dome?

Calls to completely scrap Wembley gathered pace today, with some calling for the Dome to be used as the site for a new national stadium.

The ill-fated Greenwich project is lying empty at a cost of £100,000 in Lottery money a week after ministers abandoned any plan to sell the structure until after a June general election.

A three-month consultation period is under way and Home Secretary Jack Straw, now heading a Government review into the Wembley disaster, could look at the possibility of trying to save both schemes by bringing them together.

But a spokesman for Wembley National Stadium Ltd said the idea of building an 80,000 capacity stadium at Greenwich was unthinkable. "It simply wouldn't work. Road access is limited and there is only one tube line which can only cater for 10,000 people an hour. That means it would take eight or nine hours to clear a crowd after a sell-out game," he said.

"Wembley has two tube lines and two mainline rail lines going to it. And the road access is very good from all parts of the country. That's why it was chosen in the first place."

Twickenham can also be ruled out, he added, because of fierce opposition from residents and Richmond Council.

A number of football clubs have already asked, unsuccessfully, to move in temporarily.