The world-famous landmarks appeared to have won a reprieve last month after news of their demise was released, but now it seems that only replicas will survive.

The latest admission is likely to anger Brent Council, which gave redevelopment the go-ahead on the basis of the towers' survival.

The local authority has warned that planning permission could be taken away if the 75-year-old towers were to be removed in the £300m scheme.

Wembley Stadium vice-chairman Jarvis Astaire told a sports forum: "The towers will have to go because the entire stadium will need widening. But I believe replicas will be built."

Work on rebuilding the stadium has already been delayed from its original start date of next May and is now not expected to begin before next autumn.

A Celine Dion concert is being held there next summer and England are hoping to stage their European Championship qualifier against Luxembourg at Wembley on 4 September 1999 before the bulldozers move in.

Graham Kelly: Said towers were not 'significant'

Fears for the towers were first raised following comments by Football Association chief executive Graham Kelly.

He said he was uncertain if they would be "significant" to a new 88,000-seat arena, forming the centrepiece of a bid to bring the World Cup to England in 2006.

One option is to move the grade II listed towers to form a gateway to the new national stadium.

But not only would that prove expensive, there is also no guarantee they can be successfully relocated.

No decision on the future of the 126ft high towers can be taken until Wembley becomes the property of English National Stadium Trust, which is buying it from Wembley Plc for £103m.

With £120m having been granted by the English Sports Council, that leaves £17m to be used during the design phase.

The FA aims to raise £200m towards the development costs through the City.