COUNCIL chiefs today gave the go-ahead for York City to move to Huntington Stadium.

The city's key political leaders agreed an application from York City Supporters' Trust asking for a ten-year lease at the Monks Cross ground, which is also used by York City Knights RLC.

The application, which the trust said was "crucial" to their bid to take over the ailing football club, was considered at a meeting of City of York Council's Urgency Committee.

The crunch meeting was attended by council leader Dave Merrett, Liberal Democrat leader Steve Galloway and Conservative leader John Galvin, as well as Couns Viv Kind and Ann Reid.

The trust stressed it has made the application to give it an "option". Spokeswoman Sophie McGill said the availability of Huntington Stadium on a decade-long lease was needed to "satisfy Football League requirements".

Without a stable home, York City cannot benefit from grants from the Nationwide League's governing body.

Ms McGill said: "This is a positive step by the council. It is greatly assisting the Supporters' Trust. It is only an option we are looking at.

"It is really to satisfy the requirements of the Football League. It is a crucial requirement of our bid.

"We had a meeting with the Football League last week and, since that meeting, it has become important that the ground issue is addressed.

"Without a ten-year lease we cannot get our Football League share. The priority has been saving the club but at the moment this ground issue needs to be resolved."

Majority shareholder of the Knights, John Guildford, the boss of building firm Guildford Construction, who has been involved in talks, admitted a redevelopment would benefit the rugby club.

He said this was also the best way forward for City given their predicament and was something that would "benefit York as a whole".

"We would like to help the football club and would welcome them to Huntington Stadium with open arms," he said.

"It's in everyone's interests to have this kind of shared stadium and it would be good for York to have one sporting stadium with the kind of facilities of which we can all be proud."

Mr Guildford said actual redevelopment was still a long way away. "There is a lot of work to do to get funding, planning consent, architect and engineering work and so on," he said.

A council report says the request involves the trust being granted, in principle, a lease of the stadium area for a minimum term of ten years at peppercorn rent.

The football club would be responsible for repairing and insuring the stadium, for paying the business rates, and for agreeing legal interests with York City Knights.

The report also adds that the lease would not automatically be renewed after the ten-year term - a further agreement being subject to negotiations by both parties.

After the meeting Coun Merrett said: "The council is showing its commitment to the football club. All along we have been doing our bit to help those who want to save the club.

"We are very pleased that the supporters' trust has managed to step into the breach.

"Clearly there are a number of important issues to be resolved in terms of working with the current users such as York City Knights Rugby Club and the York Harriers Athletics Club."

Coun Galloway said: "We are pleased with that decision, it offers the Supporters' Trust some security. They can now say to the football authorities we have a stadium we can use for ten years."

Steve Beck, vice-chair of the Supporters' Trust: "I am pleased that the council has agreed to the option of a ten-year lease. It certainly will help with our ongoing negotiations to obtain a football league share. It is an in principle agreement that the council has entered into. There is still an awful lot more work to be done."

Updated: 14:51 Monday, March 10, 2003