TENNIS club members face a race against time to get a new lease on their venue.

Badgers in Kemp Town, Brighton, is one of the oldest clubs in the country and is much loved by those who play there.

But its lease expires on December 10 – and the club’s super-rich owners are not playing ball on a new deal.

It is owned by the Chotai brothers, the multi-millionaires who own the nationwide Kamsons pharmacy chain.

Club members say the brothers have gone quiet since sending a letter in March telling them the lease was not going to be renewed.

Liz Foster, chairwoman of Badgers, said the club is also a place for “people from all backgrounds” to socialise. She said members are extremely upset and worried they might not have a club come early December.

Ms Foster said: “A lot of people have said to me ‘this club is our family’.

Ms Foster said the rent on the lease, which began in 2013, is £12,000 a year – “considerably more” than any other club in the area.

The Chotai brothers listed as directors of Badgers (called Kemp Town Tennis Club on Companies House) are Bharat and Bipin, while Piyoosh is a secretary.

They bought the club, which was established in 1895, in 2010, with plans to carry out development work.

It has about 150 members, 80 per cent of who live in the postcode area of the Church Place venue.

Ms Foster says everyone at Badgers, which is an asset of community value, has been left in the dark by the Chotais and they want clarity as they try to keep their home.

She said: “We have been trying to talk to them for at least two years. We are not trying to make it look like they are doing something wrong, they are our landlords.

“We would like the opportunity to get out of this mess.”

They have received backing from the area’s councillors Gill Mitchell, Warren Morgan and Nancy Platts, along with Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who is raising the issue in Parliament this week.

A statement issued by the Chotais said: “Badgers Tennis Club occupy land which is owned by Kemp Town Tennis Club Ltd.

“Kemp Town Tennis Club Ltd was sold at a substantial premium in 2012 to Chotai Brothers as potential development land by two prominent members of the club who were coaches at the club and running the club.

“Badgers is a private members’ club.

“At the time, the continuity of the club was uncertain and it was let on a temporary basis, for a number of years, at an affordable rent allowing time to work out the future of the club.

“Chotai brothers have indicated their willingness that if the acquired club land was to get planning permission for development and there was public demand for tennis courts in the area, then they would be willing to help fund tennis courts, open to the public, for example at the council-owned land less than 50 yards from the current club site.

“Kamsons Pharmacy is not the owner of the land. This is contrary to reports which have appeared elsewhere.”