Maidstone United fans had something to celebrate last night, after the borough council agreed to offer it the freehold on a key strip of land so it can expand its stadium.

The Stones want to develop the west side of their ground and had hoped to buy the two-metre wide section of land, which sits between the Gallagher Stadium and a path leading to Whatman Park.

It forms part of a project to increase crowd capacity up to the 5,000 required to be accepted into the Football League, were the club to secure promotion from the Vanarama National League this season.

But at a meeting last month, MBC decided it would only lease the plot for 99 years for a peppercorn rent.

Yesterday that decision was overturned by the Policy and Resources Committee, after three cllrs called in the decision.

It has since been agreed the council will dispose of the land via a freehold.

Cllrs Matt Boughton, Matthew Burton and David Naghi had asked for the original decision to be reviewed, saying members had not known all the facts when they voted for the leasehold.

They said committee members were told the club would reluctantly accept the land on a leasehold basis, when in fact they had previously stated they were only interested in buying the freehold.

The council chamber was full of fans, wearing the black and amber strip, who came along to hear the discussion last night.

Speaking after the meeting, Stones chief executive Bill Williams, said: "Great result for the club tonight. Thank you to all the supporters who came down and supported Terry and the club. And well done to the council members for their support."