THE wait to see Albion in the Premier League is nearly over but fans will have to hold on a little longer to stay at the Amex.

Brighton and Hove Albion have told The Argus plans to build a 150 hotel besides the club’s stadium are on hold for the time being.

The club suffered a setback in February 2016 when Brighton and Hove City Council’s planning committee refused consent over concerns it might impact on views of the stadium.

The delay to the hotel, which the club had hoped to open this summer, means an NHS radiotherapy unit planned for its basement will be built elsewhere.

The club is now looking for another partnering medical facility before they can proceed with the three-storey hotel with a restaurant, bar, gym and meeting room.

The hotel would have been run as a franchise with one of the world’s leading hotel operators Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, who also run Sheraton and Westin hotels.

Councillors, on the casting vote of chairwoman Julie Cattell, followed planning officers’ advice to reject the plans on design grounds despite only receiving two objections from residents whose concerns were increased traffic.

Officers warned it would have a detrimental impact on the views of the stadium despite the hotel being around two metres lower than the east stand.

Several leading political figures came out in support of the plans including council leader Warren Morgan, Lord Bassam of Brighton and MPs Peter Kyle and Simon Kirby.

The hotel would generate £6 million for the local economy and provide 82 jobs for residents in addition to the £20 million going into the city during its construction phase. The stereotactic radiotherapy facility would have treated up to 30 patients a day and employed 10 technical and administrative staff.

A council commissioned report from Crosthwaites Leisure Property Specialists had questioned the viability of the scheme claiming the club’s subsidiary company The Community Stadium would have to build it at a loss.

Albion executive director Martin Perry said: “It’s on hold at the moment.

“We’ll worry about £5.5 million works in 13 weeks ahead of the Premier League before we start worrying about that.

“We lost the radiotherapy centre so we are looking to find something to replace that before we go any further.

“The focus for the club has always got to be the Premier League these other things were there to support the club and provide additional revenue.

“They are there and we will pick them up as and when they are ready.”