Kingstonian football club have announced plans to leave Kingsmeadow - the team's home for the past 25 years - amid claims the ground could soon be sold to Premier League giants Chelsea.

Ks co-chairman Malcolm Winwright released a statement this morning on the club's website, in which he said the prospect of staying at the ground was "not a practical option for us to consider".

The statement comes days after the Surrey Comet revealed current Kingsmeadow owners AFC Wimbledon had held talks with Chelsea over buying the ground should the Dons' bid to move to a new stadium in Merton be successful.

A source close to the negotiations told this newspaper that an agreement had already been struck between the two clubs.

Kingstonian's statement said: "The AFC Wimbledon Trust have kept us informed of their progress at all times and our Board have therefore been able to assess the effect the Dons’ departure from Kingsmeadow could have on Ks, particularly if the eventual purchaser of the ground is not able to facilitate our club continuing to play at the stadium.

"The Ks’ Board has always understood this could happen one day, given that we are not in a position to buy Kingsmeadow.

"After much long and careful thought Ks Board have come to the conclusion that the best long-term interests of our club would be served by us taking this opportunity to leave Kingsmeadow, at the appropriate time, and finding a stadium better suited to our needs, income and level of support.

"It is important for all to know that our search for a new facility is well underway and progress has been made. Otherwise the process could be lengthy and frustrating as clubs such as Horsham and Cray have discovered.

"The identity of possible new locations for Ks must remain confidential as speculation would inevitably undermine this process.

"The Board, of course, fully understands that some supporters will be reluctant to move from Kingsmeadow but the facts before us are that a 5,000 capacity stadium, that is expensive to maintain, and where, in future, we would be subject to rent, is simply not a practical option for us to consider, even if the stadium continued to be available for us to use."

Kingsmeadow was opened in 1989 as the home ground for Kingstonian.

In 2002, the newly-formed AFC Wimbledon began playing home games as tenants, before buying the ground from Ks' controversial former chairman Rajesh Khosla in 2003.

Since then, Kingstonian have stayed on as tenants, playing their home games rent free.  

The full Kingstonian statement can be read here.