Directors of Basingstoke Town Football Club claims the club could fold by March unless the council gives them a loan. 

Officials met with borough councillors in a private meeting on Wednesday night to discuss the club's future. 

It is believed the discovery of the Camrose covenant - which states the team's former home on Winchester Road should remain as a sports ground until 2053 - has given the club new leverage in negoitations. 

Cllr Simon Bound told the meeting he would be looking into funding them to save them from bankruptcy and to facilitate their move to Winklebury.

As reported previously by the Gazette, the club were paying between £1,500 to £2,000 a month in rent to use the Winchester ground which would make the club bankrupt by the end of March. 

In a statement, published to the club's website, it said: "We needed certainty very quickly of improvements to play at Winklebury to survive." 

The club were previously promised money by the landowner of the Camrose, Basron Developments, but it was pending approval on a planning application to develop the site into a multi-million pound housing estate. 

As it is unlikely the council will be able to review the application until April, the club said by this time they would be 'forced to close'. 

Cllr Simon Bound announced that the council had approached Hampshire Football Association, the leaseholder of the Winklebury Football Complex, to review the facilities at the site for all levels of the borough. 

He also added that the council would be looking at what funds would be available for the football club in the next few weeks. 

Ian Walkom, Deputy chair of Hampshire FA indicated that the council's approach was positive and that they would work collaboratively with them to improve the ground for the football club.

There has been public outrage since the Gazette revealed a covenant placed on the land was still in effect, in last week's paper.

There have been calls from former Basingstoke Town football players as well as residents across the borough for the covenant to be honoured and respected.

A source associated with the club said they were still looking into the legal rammifications of the covenant and hoped that Winklebury could be a short-term fix while a like-for-like stadium is built or the Camrose is taken back into their control. 

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