TALKS will take place over the future of Ledbury Swifts FC at Ross Road playing fields, following fears the club may be forced to move.

In 2015, Herefordshire Council transferred ownership of the Ross Road fields to Ledbury Rugby Club with an agreement that youth football side the Swifts could play there until 2041.

However, recently there has been speculation that the Swifts' future at Ross Road may not be secure, and the club continues to look elsewhere for a new home with space for more pitches and a clubhouse.

This week, town and county councillor Liz Harvey said that the Swifts had been "diddled" out of secure rights to Ross Road when Herefordshire Council transferred the site to Ledbury Rugby in 2015.

Speaking to the Reporter, Cllr Harvey was critical of "the underhand way in which publicly owned assets have been transferred to create a deepening deficit in provision for one specific sport (football)".

This week Herefordshire Council said talks would take place with the Swifts and Ledbury Rugby to discuss the future of Ross Road.

A council spokesman said: "Herefordshire Council approved the community asset transfer of the Ross Road Playing Fields to Ledbury Rugby Club on February 23, 2015. The community asset transfer was conditional on the operation of a joint use agreement which will run until February 3, 2041 and Ledbury Swifts are referenced within the joint use agreement.

“The council will now arrange a meeting of the management committee to discuss and agree the way forward in respect of the use of the playing fields for all parties covered by the community asset transfer.”

Criticising the 2015 agreement, Cllr Harvey added: "The cabinet member decision report states clearly that the Swifts football club are to be granted a long lease on their half of the ground following the asset transfer. What the officer in charge of the transfer left out of the decision report was that the council's own legal team recommended that the Swifts' stakeholding in the playing fields should be formally protected and recognised in the way the playing fields were transferred, so they had joint ownership, or at the very least, secure tenure."

However, Cllr Harvey's claim has been denied by Herefordshire Council.

Ian Beer, president of the Ledbury and District Sports Federation, member of Ledbury Rugby Club and the former RFU President, said he was not aware of the subject of the Swifts using Ross Road being raised as an issue by anyone in recent years.

He added: "At a meeting with the Swifts, in the presence of Cllr Harvey, where I was also present, trying to help them with their problem, she never mentioned it – nor did the Swifts.

"The long lease has been very successfully managed by the LRFC over many years as far as I am aware. However the Swifts have been concerned that this does not solve the problem – not enough pitches and they have no clubhouse.

"It is the lack of pitches, whatever the sport, in Ledbury that is concerning the Federation, and this view is shared by Sport England."

The Swifts and Ledbury Town FC are hoping to move to a proposed super 'sports hub' off the Dymock Road, but this is dependent on the developer, Gladman, getting planning permission for a new estate of over 400 homes – and that is far from guaranteed.

A spokesman for Ledbury Swifts declined to comment on any concerns over the Ross Road fields, but did say: "We are working with the Rugby Club and have a good working relationship with the Rugby Club."