WASPS admit moving to the Ricoh Arena will test the loyalty of their fans to the limit, but insist they were left with no option.

Wasps will play four, possibly five games at Adams Park before upping sticks and relocating to Coventry in December.

They leave behind a hardcore fanbase of about 6,000 supporters, of which about 40 per cent are season ticket holders from the South Bucks area.

Expecting those fans to follow them 80 miles away is a giant leap of faith, and chief executive officer Nick Eastwood admits that losing supporters will be an inevitable part of the move.

He said: “We have a motto at the club among players and supporters, Once a Wasp Always a Wasp. We realise we are testing that sentiment, and significantly so.

“We would dearly love that spirit to shine through but we understand it’s not posssible for all.

“Our message to current Wasps fans is this: We want you to come with us and be part of this incredibly exciting future.

“You have backed this club through thick and thin and we value that support tremendously. I know we have tested your patience recently, unavoidably I might add, and now we’re testing your support.

“But we have finally ended the uncertainty over our future and put ourselves in a position to compete at the highest levels again.

“We want our current supporters to be there sharing that with us.”

Wasps will hope to convince fans to follow them by providing free coaches from High Wycombe on matchdays for the remainder of the season.

And Eastwood even believes that the greater access at the Ricoh Arena will make it a shorter day for Wasps fans than going to support their team at Adams Park.

He said: “We’ve got 2,800 season ticket holders. About 80 per cent of them live within a 30 minute drive of Adams Park.

“Adams Park is a notoriously difficult place to get in and out of. It is the end of a cul-de-sac and you’re talking an hour to an hour and a half getting in and out.

“If you work out the time when a family leaves and gets back [12am-6pm], the ease at the Ricoh Arena means their rugby day is likely to be no longer and in many instances will be shorter.

“Obviously they’ll have to travel and this means cost, but we’ll put together what we believe is a very attractive offer for our season ticket holders to come and support us. That will include free coach transport and other aspects of subsidised travel.”