Civil Service are back in the national leagues after beating Dover 31-14 in their London One promotion play-offs in Chiswick on Saturday.

A sparkling first-half performance saw Service, a founding memeber of the RFU, romp into a 31-7 lead at Duke’s Meadow, scoring five well-taken tries.

Victory caps a memorable season in which the club scored 1,019 points – despite having no clubhouse for much of the season as a cost-cutting measure.

Head coach Nigel Rosser said: “We were a rugby club without a bar or anywhere to eat for much of the season, which has to be some sort of first.

“We also had to assimilate players recruited from London Scottish and the old Rosslyn Park development squad with our local Kiwi lads, but it has worked out well and the players deserve their success in coping with less than ideal circumstances.”

Rosser, former senior squad coach at Rosslyn Park and London Scottish, said they were now looking to bolster the squad and hoped to be able to look forward to competing in the higher league with some confidence.

He added: “Civil is a special place, it has one of the best pitches in London, it is 20 minutes by train from Waterloo and the side play exciting rugby.

“With off-pitch facilities hopefully significantly upgraded and the fact that the traditional first class sides nearby like Park, Scottish and Richmond becoming increasingly professional, we hope to bring in the sort of players who want to play competitive National League rugby without committing to daily gym sessions and thrice weekly training that those clubs are now demanding.

“Certainly those of this season's squad who have been semi-professionals in the recent past have found the regime and lesser travelling more fun and far more conducive to holding down careers in the current economic climate.”

Pre season training begins at Duke's Meadows on July 20.