A Halesowen sports and social club has been saved just days before its future was due to be decided in court.

Somers Sports and Social Club was today set to seal a new lease agreement ensuring it stays at its historic 250-year-old headquarters – The Grange – for the next ten years.

The last-ditch deal, agreed between the club and the site’s trustees, brings to an end months of crisis for the club which has been based at the Grade II listed building since its creation by Walter Somers Ltd in 1952.

Trustees were attempting to gain a possession order for the site, with the court battle due to conclude at Birmingham County Court on Monday February 16.

A statement released by the club read: “The club have agreed the terms of a lease on the premises and grounds covering the next ten years.

“The club would like to thank the trustees for their understanding in allowing it to remain at The Grange and continue to serve the local people.”

The statement also acknowledged the public’s support – more than 250 people packed into a meeting at The Earls High School last month to call for discussion into the club’s future.

It added: “Members and the people of Halesowen can now look forward to the many sporting and social events planned in the future.”

The club has around 1,700 members and the site is home to a variety of sporting teams, including Stourbridge Archery club, as well as an award-winning bar.

Trustees Walter Somers Employees Fund Ltd – based at the offices of Folkes Holdings in Stourbridge – and Cheltenham-based solicitor Brian Rook applied for the possession order last summer after the club failed to keep up with rent and maintenance fees imposed two years ago.

The new deal will see the rent revised to a more manageable level.

Club chairman Paul Hill said members’ support was now required to help cover the cost of legal fees, believed to be in region of £25,000.

The cost of cancelled bookings because of uncertainty surrounding the club’s future is also thought to run into tens of thousands of pounds.

Paul said: “It is satisfying to confirm the club will remain at the Grange for the next ten years but we do need income to cover the high cost of fighting this case and the increased cost of having to pay a rent.

“All members need to support and use the club and help make it the success the Somers family intended.”

The trustees were unavailable for comment as the News went to press.