CHARLTON chief executive Peter Varney has widened the rift between his club and Gillingham with a stinging rebuke for chairman Paul Scally.

Mr Scally attacked Charlton over their decision to run cut-price match-day coaches to The Valley from Kent towns. Called Valley Express, the service hits the road for the first time for Saturday’s home game against Birmingham.

The Gillingham chairman accused the Premier League club of being unethical by intruding on his club’s conurbation and said that genuine football fans would be appalled by Charlton's behaviour.

But Mr Varney said: "I don't believe we have upset the Gillingham chairman, he's upset himself. If you were to go on any of our coaches you would find that those fans have not made a choice between Gillingham and Charlton.

"They have made a decision to go to Charlton because we have marketed our club. That choice is open to every fan. So maybe it's better to divert your energies into marketing your own football club rather than rubbishing the efforts of others."

Kent football fans have been quick to take advantage of the service with more than 600 on board for the weekend as the Addicks step up their campaign to win their hearts and minds with the cut-price service.

The network of routes provides £5-a-head return travel to The Valley for every Premiership fixture. The initiative follows the success if a pilot project run from Thanet since August under the auspices of Charlton's Target 40,000 committee.

With Charlton looking to expand The Valley's capacity to 40,600, the club have undertaken the ambitious marketing strategy which is designed to tempt new fans, young and old alike, to nail their colours to their mast.

Mr Varney said: "Developing support for Charlton in Kent is a vital part of the work being done towards the planned expansion of The Valley over the next few years.

"It's not just about running coaches to make the journey easier for existing fans and reducing their dependency on coming to game by private car, but also making sure the people we reach through our community work get to games.

"Over half our support already comes from Kent so we are trying to develop an infrastructure that will enable people to come and watch our matches in an efficient and cost effective way. That's why we launched Valley Express."

Charlton Football Club chairman Martin Simonds and Mr Varney will join fans boarding the coach from Tunbridge Wells.