Albion fans are praying D-Day for a new stadium will not turn into a nightmare.

Hallowe'en will be the deadline for Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to put longsuffering Seagulls supporters out of their misery. The club has been told it will find out on or before October 31 if a purpose-built 22,000-seat ground can be constructed at Falmer.

But it means a summer and autumn of nervous discontent after the club announced a loss of more than £1.2 million in the year to June 2004 and escaped relegation from the Championship by just one point.

The date was announced after The Argus wrote an open letter to Mr Prescott warning the Albion were in a desperate situation.

We said: "The waiting has gone on long enough.

"While other clubs have been able to build some of the most modern stadiums available, Albion have been left behind.

"Supporters can only cast envious glances at other grounds and dream of what might be."

Over the past few weeks The Argus has been swamped by messages from fans calling for a community stadium at Falmer.

They have been waiting six long years for a final verdict and will be relieved to hear the end is in sight.

Mr Prescott was expected to receive a report from the planning inspector in July, after which he will make his ruling on or before Hallowe'en.

Martin Perry, chief executive of Brighton and Hove Albion, said: "It's nice to have a deadline, as previously there have been no set periods for decisions.

"Last time we waited from December until July before we were told the inquiry was to be re-opened."

Albion recently celebrated some good news when Brighton and Hove City Council granted the club permission to extend its temporary stay at Withdean for another three years while the Falmer issue was resolved.

Permission was also granted to build new stands and extend existing ones to create an extra 1,966 seats.

Falmer was first identified as a possible site for a new stadium in 1999. The first stage of the public inquiry was held between February and October 2003, before Albion fans including Des Lynam and Norman Cook, alias Fatboy Slim, delivered thousands of pro-stadium letters to 10 Downing Street.

Fans were stunned when Charles Hoile, one of two inquiry inspectors, concluded after a 38-day hearing Falmer was too small and too near the South Downs for a stadium.

His report sparked further campaigning and Mr Prescott threw fans a lifeline by re-opening the inquiry last July to find out if there were any suitable alternative sites.

The hearing finished three weeks ago after 24 days in which ten possible alternatives were explored.

On a visit to Hove during the General Election campaign, Mr Prescott told The Argus he accepted football stadiums played an important role in communities and complimented the way the Falmer For All campaign had been fought.