Bath Rugby Football Club (BRFC) has submitted a request to the local authority to extend a lease agreement on part of the Recreation Ground after the club's expansion plans were rejected last month.

The club has asked Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES) to continue using the stadium's East Stand for a further two years while it waits for the economic situation to improve in order to fund redevelopment plans. BRFC currently holds a 60-year lease on the majority of the Recreation Ground stadium, including the pitch, stands and the clubhouse, although for the past five years, additional land under the East Stand has been subject to a temporary lease.

Bob Calleja, BRFC chief executive, said: "The club has made it repeatedly clear to the trustees of the Bath Recreation Ground Trust and to the council what it believes is needed in order to make a development of The Rec possible. "It is apparent that what the club believes is necessary is not currently available. It is also clearly impossible, in the present financial climate, to hold meaningful discussions with any potential funding partners about a development."

Last month, the Charity Commission turned down the club's proposals for a new long-term lease, which would allow the redevelopment of the ground due to legal issues. However, the Recreation Ground Board of Trustees (RGBT), which manages the land, says that it cannot appeal the decision without further information from the club. Chris Watt, chair of the RGBT, said: "For the trust to pursue the course of action that the rugby club has asked, we have made clear that detailed information about its financial situation in both the short and the long-term would be required. No such information has been provided by the rugby club.

"The trust will continue its dialogue with interested parties with a view to putting a prospective proposal to the Charity Commission." A spokesperson for BANES added: "The council is surprised that Bath Rugby has made a further request to renew the short-term lease for the East Stand without addressing a resolution for the longer term position of the club.

"If the rugby club were prepared to enter negotiations over the Charity Commission's decision, a solution may be possible."