MANCHESTER United has applied to add a 1,500-capacity railed seating block at Old Trafford.

The club has asked for permission from Trafford’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) for the safer standing facility and it could be in place by the end of this season.

After looking into the option for a number of months and conducting a consultation from September last year onwards, the plan is to bring the safe standing to the North East Quadrant of Old Trafford.

The seats allow people to stand against a barrier while watching matches and it’s hoped this will improve safety.

The club are still waiting to hear back from Trafford SAG, which includes representatives from the council, the police and fire services, to see if the proposals will be given the green light.

In minutes from a fan forum meeting held on Friday January 31, a Manchester United spokesman said: “As previously communicated, the club are in favour of rail seating  in parts of Old Trafford in principle.

“We have recently conducted a study into the feasibility of a rail seating trial within the stadium.

“A formal proposal was made to the local Safety Advisory Group in December 2019 to request a trial in a small section of the stadium (up to 1,500 seats in the North East Quadrant).

“Our belief is that the introduction of rail seating will enhance spectator

safety in areas of the stadium where – as with other clubs – we have seen examples of persistent standing.

“The SAG committee is reviewing the request. This is not an automatic approval process. We will discuss the proposal in detail with the relevant authorities and will work through their compliance and review processes.

“We will provide an update as soon as we receive any further information or a decision.”

Thanks to a guideline change, clubs are now permitted to install seats with barriers in their stadiums where they see persistent standing problems.

Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) have already installed railed seating areas in their stadiums and it is understood Manchester United was in talks with these clubs to find out more about the processes involved.

Standing was made illegal in the top two divisions after theTaylor Report into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

A Trafford Council spokesman said: “We have received an application from Manchester United to trial rail seating inside the Old Trafford stadium. We are in discussions with the club regarding the proposal.”