Southampton Amateur Gymnastics Club have been told they have less than two weeks to pack up and leave the base it has used since 1978.

For 28 years, up to 350 members of the 700-strong club, many of whom have learning disabilities, have met and competed at The Deanery in Chapel Road.

The club itself even contributed to the original cost of the building, which was council property before being taken over by Southampton City College in 1989.

But club chairman Kevin Warren was shocked to receive a solicitor's letter saying the club had two weeks to vacate The Deanery.

He said: "We have been aware for some time that the college has plans for the Deanery but we thought they may offer us alternative accommodation. That's a bit different to kicking us out on our ears."

He has been told any members entering the building after June 14 will be treated as trespassers. Bosses at the college are hoping to sell the site off and officials say they have been in talks with the club over the future of the site since 2001. Club members and parents have reacted with fury.

The club is used by youngsters with learning disabilities who compete in the Special Olympics. Lawrie McMenemy, patron of the national Special Olympics, pictured above left, has added his voice to the fight. The Saints legend said: "To be given just two weeks notice to get out is cruel by anybody's standards."

Mr Warren said while the club does have alternative bases at Redbridge School, there is nowhere available that could host the specialist equipment needed by the gymnasts.

"For us to get somewhere built could cost up to £500,000," he said. "The equipment within The Deanery is large, fixed equipment and it's not just a case of picking it up and moving it elsewhere. We could end up losing out there too. We really do have nowhere else to go."

A spokesman for Southampton City College said the sale was part of the plan for its campus redevelopment, aimed at replacing ageing and unfit premises with 21st century buildings, and the college would be investing more than £20m in the next four years.

"The gymnastics facility is almost 30 years old and has become seriously outdated," she said. "The sale of The Deanery site and the investment in its campus provides major advantage to the city."