SWINDON Town Football Club has come to an agreement with the council over missed rent payments following a brief court hearing earlier today.

The council took legal action to try and recover £50,000 of owed money relating to the County Ground.

At Swindon County Court, Deputy District Judge Field accepted a agreement between the two parties, the details of which are confidential.

Following the hearing Sangita Shah, a director of Swindon Town, said non-payment was never an issue but the club are keen to renegotiate the terms of the lease agreement.

As it stands, the club pays £17,000 a month but is responsible for all maintenance, an agreement the club want to change.

She said: “We talked to the council and we came to an amicable agreement.

"We have agreed on a way forward, particularly with a monthly rolling lease so we are scheduling meetings to move away from this in a longer term lease.

“The removal of maintenance is fundamental and in reality when we move away from a monthly lease it will be part of the obligations of the council.

“The council have been very constructive and I thank them for that. From our side we will always recognise the role the club has in the community and we will honour our commitment.

“We would always pay our bills but the issue for us is the £300,000 maintenance cost.”

Council Leader David Renard (Con, Haydon Wick) has said he is keen for the club to move onto a long-term lease, but expressed his frustration that the issue of upaid rent got as far as court.

He said: “We have been trying to get them onto a permanent lease for some time but they were the ones who were not so keen to do so.

“They stopped paying us money without any conversation so unfortunately that left us no choice but to take the path we did.

“The tight finances are the backdrop which currently defines everything we do so picking up all the maintenance costs would be difficult. But this is something which would have to be discussed during proper negotiations.

“We understand the importance of the football club to the town but we have to treat all our tenants fairly.”