SWINDON Town have been dealt a pre-match bodyblow after being told they won’t be able to stage an open top bus parade if they win their Wembley play-off final this afternoon.

There had been talk of a celebration parade through the town centre on Bank Holiday afternoon finishing at the County Ground if Danny Wilson’s team defeat Millwall.

But after talks between the football club, Swindon Council and Wiltshire Police, any victory celebrations will now be limited to a smaller scale ceremony at Swindon Cricket Club – just a free-kick across from the County Ground.

In a joint statement released by the council and the football club, they say: “It wasn’t possible to prepare things in advance of the game because the necessary staffing and policing arrangements would have incurred considerable costs which would have had to be met regardless of the result and, in the current financial climate, that wouldn’t have been sensible.”

The Swindon Advertiser understands that the cost would have amounted to around £20,000, so instead the council and the club plan to hold a victory celebration – should Town win – at Swindon Cricket Club between 12.30pm and 2.30pm on Bank Holiday Monday. They are also planning to talk to the Mayor to hold a civic reception before the start of the new season. In a joint statement, the council and the club said: “Everyone wanted to have a full victory parade and reception immediately after the final, but many players and staff from the club are taking well-earned holidays from Tuesday, which left just two days to put things in place, one of which is a Sunday and the other a bank holiday.”

The news will come as a huge disappointment to Town fans who would have turned out in huge numbers for a victory parade. Some 30,000 Oxford United supporters turned out to mark their Conference play-off victory at Wembley earlier this month, and in excess of 80,000 fans lined Blackpool’s seafront last week following the Tangerines’ promotion to the Premiership.

Swindon Town were given bus tours in 1990 and 1993 following play-off wins over Sunderland and Leicester City, and Swindon boxer Jamie Cox was afforded a similar honour after winning a Commonwealth Games gold medal in Australia in 2006. Shelley Rudman was given a victory parade in her home town of Pewsey after claiming a silver medal in the skeleton bobsleigh at the Turin Winter Olympics four years ago.