Barnet FC's chairman said this week that he will either take the club out of the borough or resign if the Conservatives win May's council election.

Tony Kleanthous told fans that unless a new Bees-friendly administration was ushered in via the ballot box he will hold a referendum asking supporters whether they want to leave Barnet with the chairman or stay in the borough.

If fans chose the latter, Mr Kleanthous says he would hand the club over to them debt-free.

"If I am still chairman and the administration has not changed, then I expect next year to be our 100th and last year at Underhill and we would welcome ideas on how to celebrate this landmark," Mr Kleanthous told fans on the Barnet FC web site.

"The issue for me is not the colour of the council but whether they recognise the club as a community asset and support it accordingly."

The club and council have been at loggerheads since the Conservatives came to power four years ago and scuppered plans for a 10,000-seater stadium to the south of Underhill. Subsequent attempts to break the deadlock have so far failed.

The club's recently published Working Together document, which outlines the Bees' future in the borough, has only been backed by the Liberal Democrats to date, and a proposal, hatched by council leader Brian Salinger, to move the club to Montrose Playing Fields, Burnt Oak, has made little progress.

Janet Matthewson, chairwoman of Keep Barnet Alive (KBA), wants Barnet fans to vote for candidates who have backed the Working Together document. "This is the chance for people to stand up for the club," she said.

Mr Salinger said that he was putting together his version of the Working Together document, The Way Forward', and still hoped to find a solution.

"I would be exceedingly disappointed if they left, for the sake of the fans, without exploring the options in the borough both options for staying at Underhill and Montrose Playing Fields," he said.