Brighton and Hove Albion's seven years of enforced homelessness have cost the club at least £30 million.

Chairman Dick Knight said the figure was an estimate of potential revenue lost since the Goldstone Ground was closed in 1997 combined with the crippling expense of the Falmer stadium inquiry.

Mr Knight said: "Had we moved straight from the Goldstone into a 12,000-seat stadium and sold out every week we would have had an extra £23.5 million in turnstile money alone by now."

By those calculations, the Seagulls are missing out on about £3 million in earnings every year they remain at the 6,900-capacity Withdean stadium.

If Falmer is approved it will be another three years before it is built, taking the total estimated shortfall to almost £40 million.

Albion spent £2.5 million upgrading Withdean when they moved to the former athletics track six years ago and two public inquiries have so far cost £2.9 million. They have also been hit with a £347,000 tax bill arising from the sale of the Goldstone and paid hated former chairman Bill Archer £700,000 to sever links with the club.

Albion struggled to fill the 12,000-capacity Goldstone Ground in the years leading up to its sale. They have since enjoyed mixed fortunes on the pitch and even since last season's promotion to the Championship do always sell out at Withdean.

But Mr Knight said the 30,000 fans who travelled to the Millennium Stadium for this year's play-off final showed the club had a tremendous potential fan base. His figures also do not take into account money lost through programme sales, corporate hospitality and merchandising.

He said: "The money lost does not bear thinking about. We can never recover it. What is more worrying is the generation of fans we have lost since 1997. We spent two seasons at Gillingham and the last six at Withdean and many thousands of potential young fans have not been able to see their team because of poor capacity. It is a legacy we inherited from the previous regime."

The club identified Falmer as the best site in Brighton and Hove for a new stadium six years ago but the planning process is only now drawing to a close. Mr Knight said: "It is far too long. We live in a democracy and everybody should be allowed to have their say but the view of the majority should prevail - that Falmer is not perfect but it is the only viable choice. That was the case six years ago and nothing has changed."

The reopened inquiry hearing is looking at 11 possible alternative sites to Falmer and has entered its fourth week at Brighton Town Hall.

Mr Knight has accused objectors of deliberately spinning out the inquiry process to delay the stadium or prevent it happening.

Paul Samrah, chairman of the Falmer for All Campaign, said the £30 million figure put the inquiry into new perspective.

He said: "The minority who oppose Falmer seem intent on bankrupting the club and by the sounds of it they are succeeding. It is a lot of money but it is not worth dwelling on. It is gone."

The inquiry is due to end in April, after which inspector David Brier will make recommendations to John Prescott. A verdict is not expected before the General Election, tipped for May 5.