Barnet Football Club will be allowed to play professional league matches at The Hive if they are promoted next year, it has been confirmed.

Club chairman Tony Kleanthous raised speculation over the terms of the lease at the Edgware stadium when he claimed The Bees were only permitted to play non-league football there.

The first team were relegated from League Two of the Football League on the final day of the season earlier this year and dropped in to The Conference.

But confusion over whether professional football was allowed at The Hive left some fans uncertain over the future of the club should they bounce back to the Football League next year.

The club moved from its home at Underhill Stadium in High Barnet to The Hive, on the Harrow side of Edgware, following a dispute with Barnet Council.

Some opponents of the move claimed the club would be in breach of its tenancy at the Camrose Avenue ground should the Bees achieve promotion.

But Harrow Council confirmed this week it had already agreed an amendment to the original lease at the ground, allowing professional football to be played at The Hive.

The ten-year deal was signed off by the local authority’s cabinet committee in July last year and was understood to have been ratified by The Football League in February – before The Bees were relegated.