West Ham United are disappointed that the Club’s Honours List is currently absent from the London Stadium.

The list, which for the last two seasons has been positioned around the middle tier of the West Stand, was removed by landlord E20 while the stadium staged a number of non-football events in the summer, despite the fact that - under the terms of the Club’s tenancy agreement - E20 should replace the honours list at their cost at the start of each season.

Just days before the Club’s first home game, E20 demanded fees from West Ham for maintenance of the stadium’s big screen. That fee is not in our tenancy agreement nor have we paid it before.

E20 then informed the Club they would not restore the Mid-Tier Honours unless those fees were paid.

Vice-Chairman Karren Brady said: “For the second year running E20 have attempted to hold us to ransom and force us to pay a fee we are not liable for. The Club simply cannot continue to yield to paying invented invoices year after year. We do not owe a fee for maintenance of the big screen and it has nothing to do with the Mid-Tier Honours.

“We offered to pay twice what we paid last year for the honours to be restored and this was accepted over the summer, we also offered a negotiated solution to the maintenance of the screen even though we do not owe this money but just days before our first game they tried to force us to pay a fee we are not liable for.

“In our first year at the stadium we paid a £1 million fee that was not part of our tenancy agreement to clear up a dispute over signage in the stadium. Last year we paid further fees to cover the reinstatement of the Mid-Tier Honours on the understanding it was rolling annual fee which this year we agreed to double.

“We are frustrated and angry that our landlords should act in this underhand way and we will not hesitate to take a legal route to confirm our rights under the tenancy agreement.

“We are confident in our position because we have acted properly and followed the terms of our tenancy agreement at all times.

“It is disappointing that that yet again E20 will find itself in a legal dispute of its own making. I can only apologise to our fans. The Mid-Tier Honours list is an important part of our heritage and the look and feel of the stadium as the home of West Ham United. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure it is restored to its rightful location as soon as possible.”