King's Lynn's ground capacity for next week's FA Cup clash with Oldham has been increased to 6,200, club officials said this lunchtime.The announcement came after a meeting with the emergency services and council safety experts at The Walks this morning.

King's Lynn have been given the go-ahead to increase the capacity of The Walks to a whopping 6,200 for next week's big FA Cup game.

Linnets officials met with the emergency services and council safety experts to discuss improvements to the ground.

After seeing new barriers installed and other work which has been carried out on the stadium, they agreed the capacity could be more than doubled for Oldham's visit in the second round next Friday.

The original 2,500 tickets were snapped up by home fans within hours of going on sale last Saturday. Management were hoping the capacity could be increased to 4,000.

Club spokesman Mark Hearle said: “The capacity of the ground has been set at 6,200, subject to a final barrier test - that's quite a lot more than we thought, but it's good to have that capacity for when we have a big game in the future.

“All the seats in the main stand have now sold out. The extra tickets will all be terrace tickets.”

Gordon Chilvers, who chairs the Linnets Supporters Club, said: “Six thousand, two-hundred is a lot to aim for. I'd love it. It was about in the mid-1960s when we did get big crowds to games.

“I'd have been about 10 when we played Everton, there was a tremendous amount of hype about that game. We regularly had 12 or 13,000 at The Walks in the late 1950s.”

More than 30 extra stewards are being brought in from nearby League Two club Boston to help with crowd control.

Police are also mounting a major operation both inside and outside the ground, though the officer commanding it has said he is not expecting trouble.

While Lynn go into FA Cup overdrive, their League One opposition do not appear quite as excited at the prospect of a Friday night trip from Lancashire to Norfolk. So far, just under 200 tickets have been sold by Oldham.

While the bookies are offering 5,000-1 on Lynn to lift the trophy, Chilvers said the Linnets could spring a surprise if they rise to the occasion.

"If you look at Oldham's record over the last few years they've played several non-league clubs and stuggled to get past them," he added.

t The extra tickets go on sale from the club's commercial office, from 9am on Friday, priced £10 adults, £5 concession and juniors.