Romford FC will have to resubmit plans for a new stadium back in the borough, Havering Council has said.

The club has been without a permanent home for around 30 years and has played outside Havering for more than a decade.

It currently has its home games at Mayesbrook Park in Dagenham, home to Barking FC, having previously shared ground with Thurrock FC and East Thurrock United.

The council approved an application from the club for a new stadium at Westlands Playing Fields in October 2018.

Plans included a 3G pitch, floodlights, a clubhouse, food kiosk, stand and 22 parking spaces at the site in London Road, Romford.

But a condition was included in the approval that work on the development had to begin within three years of the decision, which has just elapsed.

The council has now confirmed to the Recorder that the club would now have to submit a new planning application for a stadium.

Council leader Damian White said: “We’re committed to supporting Romford FC and to seeing them playing in the borough again.

"We look forward to them submitting a new planning application.”

The club held its annual general meeting last week in which the future of the Westlands stadium proposals was discussed.

In a statement, it said: “The Westlands project has not been buried, there is a potential investor. The club has to go through due diligence and several rounds of discussions before we can say the project is live.

“We are at a sensitive stage of negotiations and are working hard behind the scenes to deliver the facility but to say anything further at this juncture would be speculation and guesswork."

The original application was unanimously approved by the council's planning committee.

It was hailed at the time by Brooklands councillor Viddy Persaud as "a great thing for Romford, good for the supporters and our people", while club chairman Steve Gardener said it would be a facility for the community.

The club plays in the Isthmian League North in the eighth tier of English football.