BRIGHTON and Hove Albion have won their four-year battle for planning permission for a new stadium.

The club have been homeless since the Goldstone Ground was sold in 1997, but Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has now given the go-ahead for them to build their own ground at Falmer after a public inquiry.

The Seagulls spent two seasons as tenants of Gillingham at Priestfield between 1997 and 1999.

Since 1999 they have been playing at Withdean, which is a stadium designed for athletics. They submitted their application for the new 23,000-seater stadium in 2001.