CITY of York Council are maintaining their silence over a spat with York City Knights chairman John Guildford.

The rugby club’s owner is refusing to commit to the terms of the community stadium project, which he claims have been changed. Guildford insists Knights have been told they can only play at Bootham Crescent, the football club’s home, for two years while the new arena is being built on the Huntington Stadium site where the rugby team has played their fixtures for the last 25 years.

According to him, that represents a significant difference to the original arrangement, which was to allow the Knights to be based at Bootham Crescent until the “new stadium was built”, which gives him concerns that the club might find themselves homeless should the project be delayed beyond 2016.

But the council will not discuss any conditions concerning the development and stated: “Any proposed terms and conditions discussed with project partners for the community stadium development are commercially confidential therefore we will not comment on specific queries in relation to such terms.”