People living near Odsal stadium could get a reprieve from rugby fans parking outside their homes on Bradford Bulls match days.

Plans have been drawn up to create four permit-only zones on match days covering hundreds of houses on the doorstep of the stadium.

Permits would be handed out to residents who would have to dislpay them on their own cars to avoid a parking fine.

The move is intended to end residents suffering problems from fans crowding their streets during games.

Councillor David Warburton (Lab, Wyke), who lives in one of the proposed zones, and is the Labour group’s spokesman for sport, said there had been continuous complaints for years from residents about the parking problems.

He said: “Councillor David Green and I had a meeting with officers to see if we could put something together and we have identified a number of streets that would benefit from a match-day parking zone.

“We don’t want to see the Bulls pushed out, but we do need to sort something out for the benefit of local residents.

“If a new sports village goes ahead in Odsal in whatever format, the situation could get worse. We are trying to encourage planners to include more parking in the scheme.”

The change in law which gave the Council responsibility for enforcing parking and new rules which allow the zone to be in place on match days only had made it possible for these plans to be put forward.

A survey of residents in the proposed zones will ask if they have had problems getting into their property or parking their cars because of rugby fans. And they will also be asked if they agree with the match-day parking zone – and a majority on any given street must agree to go ahead if it is to be included in any possible zone.

The survey and final proposals should be completed by September with the intention that any zone is in operation for the 2011 season.

Bulls media manager Stuart Duffy said of the plans: “We always encourage our supporters to park sensibly for the benefit of the community. We urge them to park at the many places available both at Odsal and Richard Dunn.”

Mr Duffy said that there were about 550 spaces at the stadium and 1,000 were made available at Richard Dunn sports centre on match days. Recent attendance figures show about 9,000 to 10,000 fans attend home fixtures at Odsal.

The matter will be discussed at the Bradford South Area Committee, which meets next Thursday at 5pm at Bradford City Hall.