The future of a Teddington playing field hangs in the balance as its university owner has revealed it is not of “core charitable interest” to the college to provide sporting facilities it will not use.

The playing fields in Udney Park Road, owned by Imperial College London (ICL), have been put up for sale after the university scaled back its use of the site last year, and it is understood the university received bids from organisations including Teddington Athletic Football Club and Harlequins RFC.

Bob Smith, of Teddington Athletic FC, said he was told by the estate agents handling the proposals, Knight Frank, that the club’s bid had been rejected by ICL.

He said: "They didn’t give us any feedback but my instinct is they believe there is a commercial solution that is more deliverable than ours."

Mr Smith said he was happy to continue the dialogue with the university should there be any issues with other bidders and were happy to work with whichever party gained control of the land should there still be a possibility it could be used for sporting purposes.

Your Local Guardian:

A newsletter from the Friends of Udney Park Playing Fields group stated that bids from Harlequins, State to Play and St Mary’s University were also rejected, though this is yet to be formally confirmed.

Gareth Bullock, who has campaigned to keep the fields for sporting use, said there is a shortage of places for people to play sport in the area and most clubs are already well over-subscribed.

He said the university was given the ground to use for sport and should not be looking to sell it for a profit to a developer.

An Imperial College Spokesman said : "Imperial College has acted in full accordance with its responsibilities as a charity, and therefore has sought to obtain the best possible terms of a sale in order to support our objectives as a university. 

“It is not a core charitable interest of the College to provide sporting facilities which will not be used by the College."

The site was believed to be one of two earmarked for Turing House School’s permanent home, but it is believed the preferred location is now in Whitton.