ALRESFORD Town’s future as a Sydenhams Wessex League club is in danger of going up in smoke.

The Magpies – Premier Division runners-up for the last two seasons – have a serious ground-grading issue to overcome.

Their landlords, New Alresford Town Council, have effectively removed 40 seats from the balcony overlooking the pitch to accommodate a smoking area for users of the council-run bar at Arlebury Park.

It means that Alresford, Wessex members since the 2004/05, no longer comply with the Step 5 ground grading requirement of 100 covered seats.

Unless the problem is resolved in the next month, the Magpies will not only withdraw from the Wessex ranks but will pull the plug on senior football altogether.

When club chairman Trevor Ingram raised the matter at a recreation committee meeting in February, it was proposed that a 50-seater stand be erected between the dugouts and tennis courts.

With the Hampshire FA unable to fund replacement seats, the club provided the town council with competitive quotes for the work.

But, although time is of the essence, the Magpies have been told that no decision can be made until after the election of a new council in May.

What really grates with Alresford is that the facilities would not be a patch on what they are today without the football club’s hard work in securing funding for ground improvements.

The upgrade was in part financed by a £245,934 grant from the Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund, delivered by the Football Foundation, plus £40,000 from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund.

Yet, despite that massive input, the club say they were not even consulted about the changes to the balcony area which mean they can no longer put seats in and out every season.

“The crux of the matter is that we don’t have the ground grading, and that’s particularly awkward for me because I help Ian Craig out on the Wessex League’s ground-grading committee, so I can hardly tell other clubs to do work I’m not doing myself,” said Ingram.

“We’ll be meeting the Football Foundation soon and a technical officer will come down and hopefully advise the council about reconfiguring the seating.

“But if it’s not resolved in three or four weeks the council have got a problem because the football club will be gone and a lot of funding for the ground came via the Football Foundation.

“It’s taken a lot of time and effort to get the facilities up to scratch and it’s the football club that’s done that, not the council.”

SWL chairman Ian Hoare said Alresford would be given every chance to resolve the problem.

“The league constitution won’t be formed until the AGM on June 16,” he said.

“Alresford have worked really hard and it’s unfortunate that something like this has come up to stop their progress.

“It’s sad because Trevor and his crew have put in an enormous amount of work and none of the improvements would have happened without the football club being there.

“We’re here to fully support Alresford Town.”