Ken Bates at war with his Chelsea neighbours

WHILE Chelsea's cosmopolitan football team dazzles on the world stage, the club's management is preparing for an important domestic clash this week on its own doorstep.

Ken Bates, the chairman of Chelsea Football Club, is facing fierce opposition from two local councils over his plans to expand his Chelsea Village development, next to the club's stadium, which already includes a hotel and three restaurants. Mr Bates wants to turn the site into the "Covent Garden" of west London.

But his plans have sparked an increasingly bitter feud between the club and its neighbours. They have accused Mr Bates of "playing hard-ball" to stop their campaign against the club's expansion in its tracks. Among the tactics which have upset local residents most are attacks on their motives in the club's match programmes, and letters containing the home telephone numbers of prominent councillors being circulated to football fans.

A public inquiry, starting Tuesday at Fulham Town Hall, will determine an application by Chelsea Village Plc for new ventures, including a nightclub, another hotel and a sports centre. Mr Bates is challenging a previous council decision that parts of the complex should be used only for events which are "ancillary to football".

Many local people, including Chelsea supporters, say the plan to develop Chelsea Village will add to the misery they suffer because of their proximity to Stamford Bridge. Although those living near the ground are resigned to disruption on match days, many are fed up with "noise, vandalism, vomit and urine" that they say have resulted from the ground's existing late-night facilities.

Both Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea councils have received scores of complaints about bad behaviour. Helen Suddards, a season ticket-holder who lives near the ground, said: "Most club members who are backing Ken Bates don't live in this area."

Debbie Grossman, who lives on Moore Park Road, said: "No attempt has been made by the Chelsea management to behave in a neighbourly fashion. There is a total disregard for the fact that the club is within a residential neighbourhood."

A spokesman for Hammersmith and Fulham council said: "If we knew what the limits of his [Mr Bates's] ambition were, then perhaps the residents would sleep easier at night. Residents need to be protected from over- development."

But Mr Bates, whose personal stake in Chelsea Football Club is estimated at pounds 30m, is determined to tackle his critics head-on. In programme notes for a recent game, he wrote: "The Nimbys are stepping up their campaign of misrepresentation with leaflets containing lies being attached to lamp posts around the Fulham Broadway area." Of the local planning authorities, he wrote: "The council will have delayed us for two years. A year of which has consisted of broken promises, lies, evasion and misrepresentation."

Yesterday, Mr Bates told the IoS: "Where objectors have been specific and factual we have tried to accommodate their points of views, meet their objections and allay their fears. Unfortunately much of the criticism is based on emotion and has been exaggerated by certain people who have their own hidden agendas, including political ambition.

"When we would talk to local residents direct, by bypassing their representatives (some of whom are self-appointed) we get a totally different reaction than from those who claim to represent them.

"From our database we found that we have a large number of [local] supporters who ... are supporting our plan."

In answer to criticism of his decision to send out letters to thousands of club members, containing the telephone numbers of councillors who oppose the developments, Mr Bates said: "If opponents of our plans are entitled to make representations to their local councillors, then it is only right that people who support our plans can make their representations as well, to ensure that that councillor hears a balanced view.

"The suggestion that they could be subject to intimidation is typical of the smears spread by our opponents - nothing specific, nice and vague and simply to cause concern."