MOTOR racing first took place at Croft Circuit, near Darlington, in the Twenties.

The former aerodrome fell into decline in the Eighties, but re-emerged in 1995 when it was up-graded to championship status.

It was extended again in 1997 and now runs a full calendar of motor racing events, as well as corporate days, testing and track days. The circuit is a major sporting venue. It attracts the kind of crowds which Darlington FC, just down the road, can only dream about.

Its major race events, such as the British Touring Car Championship and the British Superbikes Championship, are screened by the BBC in a primetime slot, giving the region priceless publicity.

It attracts motor sport fans, not just from all over the UK, but, for its most prestigious events, from all over Europe.

If Croft were a venue for football, cricket or rugby, it would be hailed as one of the region’s sporting jewels – up there with St James’ Park, the Stadium of Light and Chester-le-Street Riverside.

Instead, Croft rarely seems to merit a mention. It does not even feature on the Visit North East England website and the regional development agency One North- East seems more pre-occupied with London 2012.

Now the future of Croft is in doubt because a family living next to it says it makes too much noise. In a rare decision last year, the High Court agreed, and ordered Croft management to pay £149,600 in damages.

Everyone knows that motor sport is noisy. Rule-makers have tried to make engines and exhausts quieter, but the noise is part of the spectacle.

Imagine trying to silence the crowd at St James’ Park or telling the fans to keep it down a bit at the Stadium of Light? Loud noise is part of the atmosphere; it is what makes major sporting events exciting if you are spectating.

Croft has appealed against the original decision and hopes the courts will overturn it. If they do not, the circuit’s future may be in doubt. And if Croft closes, the local economy will suffer. The people who stay in hotels, eat in restaurants and fill up their cars at petrol stations will go elsewhere.

Croft is unique in the North-East and North Yorkshire. It would be a black day indeed were the chequered flag to come down on the circuit for the final time.