Oliver Dowden admits there has been “inconsistency” in the quest to bring fans back to football.

Albion and their Premier League counterparts are still awaiting the green light to re-open stands.

The Seagulls have announced plans to refund season ticket holders and 1901 Club members in reluctant anticipation that spectators will probably remain absent until into 2021.

Deputy chairman and chief executive Paul Barber is angry about inconsistencies which allow indoor entertainment venues to welcome the paying public while Prem stadia remain empty.

He has spoken face to face with Dowden on several occasions.

The culture secretary did nothing to quell growing anger when he said today: "We are doing things that are positively hateful, but the reason we are doing it is to secure public safety."

Dowden was asked by DCMS committee member Steve Brine MP about the fact that spectators had been allowed into the London Palladium for an event with former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, but that outdoor sports venues remained closed.

He replied: "Of course I accept people's frustration at the inconsistency there.

"In relation to sport, we had sports on a path to normality. At that time I was being attacked by the arts for prioritising sports.

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"The next stage was to have pilots to move to a point from October 1 whereby we would be able to have socially-distanced spectators in stadiums.

"That is what I desperately wanted to happen. Because of where we are with the disease, it has not been possible to have that further easement.

"If we had socially distancing for sport, that is a lot of people coming week in and week out, going to sports stadiums up and down the country.

"There are actually very few socially-distanced indoor performances going on. They are not massively financially viable.

"If people are unhappy with indoor performances going ahead with social distancing that is a separate question of whether you stop them, as it were."