The Hartsdown Park site has stood empty for two years

Margate Football Club expected to be told the lease on their ground was to be terminated after failing to come up with detailed plans for a new stadium.

But at a meeting with Thanet District Council on Wednesday, the club drafted a new plan which will be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Margate fans are expected to demonstrate outside council offices.

'Key information'

A spokesman for the club said no further information about the new proposal would be given until a decision is made.

Hartsdown Park had been Margate's home since 1929.

Margate have been playing home games at Dover Athletic's ground

It was closed and demolished in 2002, with plans for rebuilding on the same site, but work stopped after a disagreement about ownership of the land if the club went bust.

Margate have played at Dover Athletic's ground since 2002, during which time they have been demoted from the Conference because ground-sharing was not allowed at that level.

In October, the council offered the club a 10-year lease on the land with a view to allowing building work to start.

Club bosses said they planned to have the team playing in the new stadium at the start of next season in August 2005.

Plans were submitted to the council in December but the club has been informed the work cannot go ahead "without certain key information".

Council leader Sandy Ezekiel said: "The council wants to move forward with the club but we cannot accept this submission in its current form.