WORCESTER’S territorial battle with Wasps is hotting up after Warriors claimed they had not been consulted over plans which could see them miss out on some of the Midlands’ brightest prospects.

Rugby chiefs are understood to have drawn up the new academy boundaries which would have seen Wasps, who moved from High Wycombe to Coventry in December 2014, secure Warwickshire.

The proposed move could scupper Warriors’ investment into the area after setting up academy centres at Warwick School and Coventry-based Barkers’ Butts.

Chief executive Jim O’Toole has vowed not to give up their fight as he believes Aviva Premiership high-flyers Wasps relocated for “business model reasons rather than for rugby reasons”.

He says Warriors have launched a “robust” counter bid to maintain “significant” areas of Warwickshire.

“As part of the review process, a team made up of RFU and Premier Rugby (PRL) executives came back with a proposal saying we think this is the fairest way to do it,” O’Toole said.

“The most relevant part of it for us was that Wasps were being given Warwickshire because they had relocated to the county.

”As you can imagine, we were unimpressed because there are a high percentage of Warwickshire-based under-19 boys who represented Warriors at England age group level this year.

“It is not an area we are particularly keen to give up because they (Wasps) have moved their business from Buckinghamshire to Coventry for business model reasons rather than for rugby reasons.”

He added: “There was a proposal that was table without prior consultation, so we have done a counter proposal which will see us take significant elements of Warwickshire.”

O’Toole insists discussions are on-going and declared “it is not over until it is over”.

“No decision has been made as to what the outcome of that is,” he said.

“But our argument that we should retain significant areas of Warwickshire is robust, it is based on fairly solid facts.

“It is also realistic and contains a compromise which is flexible.”

Director of rugby Dean Ryan has also backed the club’s bid, saying they were “fighting very hard to maintain our region”.

“We have invested a huge amount of money into a region and we don’t want to lose it,” Ryan added.

A Premiership Rugby spokesman said: “New academy licenses will start in July 2016 and as part of that process a review is currently being conducted of the academy structure in England.

“This review is crucial for the future of the game in England and we do not feel it will not help the process, and outcomes to discuss it publicly until it has been concluded.”