The £20,000 spent by Poole Town on its failed application for a new home at Branksome Rec should be refunded, it is claimed.

Cllr Phil Eades, who opposed the £1 million application by the football club for a new stadium on the public open space, said Borough of Poole was obliged to pay them back.

“I just think they have been really badly treated,” he said. “They were always fighting a losing battle because it was public open space.”

A motion signed by eight Liberal Democrat councillors is seeking reimbursement of the £1,675 cost of the planning application plus professional fees and reports, on the grounds that senior members of the administration encouraged the application on council land.

That it was against a major planning policy, contrary to the Poole Local Plan and against the wishes of hundreds of local people, was known early on, he said.

Had the club originally moved forward with Canford Arena, where they were now looking for a new home, they would already be playing matches there, he said.

Poole Town has not asked for the money to be returned and is not supporting the motion.

However vice-chairman Chris Reeves has described the £20,000 spent on the application as a “grotesque” sum for a club playing in the Wessex League.

After the planning committee axed the proposal he said: “We had a genuine belief that we were going to pull it off.”

Stephen Thorne, head of planning and regeneration services, Borough of Poole, said the council had broadly accepted the principle of the proposal, but this was subject to a number of conditions, including planning permission.

“Poole Town FC exercised their right to make a planning application, however there is no precedent for refunding planning application fees,” he said.

The motion is due to go before full council tonight and will be referred to the overview and scrutiny board.