Brighton and Hove Albion are staying at their temporary home, Withdean Stadium, far longer than expected.

A decision by the planning committee last night extends their tenure until at least 2005, another two seasons.

The club will also be able to put up 2,000 more seats at Withdean, bringing the ground's capacity to 9,000.

Even with these extra seats, Withdean is a small ground and totally unsuitable for permanent use by the club.

The planning decisions, while almost inevitable, serve to emphasise the crying need to get a community stadium at Falmer built as soon as possible.

The irony is that all those extra seats will not be filled every time next year if, as seems possible, Albion are relegated from Division One.