BICESTER Town joint-manager Eddie Nix has hit out after the football club had to turn down promotion due to the lack of a home ground.

Nix and fellow boss John Prpa steered Bicester to second place in Uhlsport Hellenic League Division 1 East in their first season after re-forming.

But the club have had to reject promotion to the Premier Division due to their inability to find a home of their own, which is required by the league for teams in the top flight.

Town will not return to their former Oxford Road home after talks broke down between the club and landlords Bicester Sports Association.

The Foxhunters, who re-formed 12 months ago after a four-year absence from senior football, have played at Ardley United this season, and will remain there for the 2016-17 campaign.

But their ambitions of returning to the town remain unfulfilled after a failure to reach an agreement with the owners of Oxford Road, where Bicester had played since 1929 prior to folding.

“For the fastest-growing town in Europe to not have a senior football club, it’s wrong,” said joint manager Eddie Nix.

“It’s scandalous that in a town of this size, there is nowhere that could host a football club.”

A deal has been agreed to remain at Ardley for another season, but the news came as a big blow.

“I’m very disappointed,” Nix said.

“We’ve worked so hard. But without a ground of our own, it’s best if we stay where we are.”