A Southend club which provides a home for more than 300 sportsmen and women faces a battle for survival after the town's council increased their rent by a staggering 500 per cent.

Trinity FC, who are 40 years old, have been told that their annual ground rent at Garon's Park in Eastern Avenue has increased from £500 to a crippling £2,500 per annum.

However, Southend Borough Council officials revealed even worse news when they informed Trinity of an additional £4,000 debt, because the newly-set fee had been backdated two years following a lengthy rent review.

Roy Plummer, Trinity's director of sport, is outraged by the council's move.

"We are a non-profit making amateur club and we have trouble finding the present rent. There's no way we can stump up an extra £2,000 a year," he said.

However, a council spokesman said that it was not too late to reach a compromise over the row.

"This council began reviewing Trinity's rent charges in November 1997 and we feel we have come to a fair conclusion," she said.

"This figure has been set after a careful study of the terms of Trinity's lease and discussions with agents acting for the club, as well as assessing what other local organisations pay. "We also had to take into account various local Govern-ment acts which ensure all rents are fair to all of the borough's taxpayers. "However, we don't want to close the door on clubs like Trinity and we may be able to come to some alternative arrangement to help them, such as a joint leasing arrangement. We are open to suggestions."

Trinity have a 60-year lease on their site, which houses nine junior and three senior football teams.

Defiant - Trinity members make their feelings known outside the clubhouse at the centre of their financial row

Picture: ANDY PALMER

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