Welford Road currently has a capacity of 16,815

The club is hoping for planning permission in the next few weeks, chairman Peter Tom said.

"We will be starting construction in the spring of next year with the idea of building a 10,000-seater stand first," Mr Tom said.

He said it would be the biggest English rugby stadium outside Twickenham.

Mr Tom added: "The plans are subject to some fine-tuning but we hope the new stand to be completely operational by the 2009-2010 season.

We hope it will be intimidating for the visiting teams Peter Tom, Leicester Tigers

"We want a modern stadium but one that retains the uniqueness of people being very close to the pitch.

"We hope also it will be intimidating for the visiting teams."

He said he was both "excited and apprehensive" about the new construction project.