A CRICKET club forced to leave its ground after a century is now working to find a new home for next season.

Langley Park Cricket Club has been told it is no longer welcome at Langley Park Sports and Social Club by the owner, Alan Cassidy.

Now the club, which has two senior teams, five youth teams, and almost 30 under eight’s All Stars players, is weighing up its options, with the former cricket club site at Bearpark a contender.

Club spokesperson Anne Platt said: “It is just a piece of grass at the minute and it is owned by the county council so we would have to see what they say, but it could be an option.”

It is understood there have been disagreements between the club and Mr Cassidy over the last season.

Mrs Platt said they had been forced to cancel cricket matches due to clashes with social functions.

She said: “We got fined £100 every time we had to cancel a game and other clubs were getting quite sick.

“It happened quite a few times, and we had to move the All Stars on a Sunday because there were christenings on.

"We had to ask the school to help us out.”

The club is now storing its equipment at Hill Top Farm and was helped to transport it by farmer Allan Mace.

They have been made offers of support by other community cricket clubs in the surrounding area.

The club, which paid £1,200 a year to play at the ground, said members were informed of the eviction by Graeme Weeks, director of development at Durham Cricket Board who had been emailed by Mr Cassidy.

He said: “There had been disagreements over the years between him and individuals there.

“There have been ongoing problems at that site between him and the cricket club since he has owned it and it has got worse over the years.

“He has bought the site outright, and because he owns the site it appears to have no covenant or agreement on it that cricket has to be played on it.”

Mr Weeks said preparing a new site for cricket matches would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and he is now working Durham County Council to help the club find a new home.

Stephen Howell, Durham County Council’s head of culture and sport, said: “We like to see all sports clubs in County Durham doing well and were very sorry to hear of the difficulties being experienced by Langley Park Cricket Club.

"We have been speaking to the club and also Durham Cricket Board about allowing the club to use alternative Durham County Council facilities and hope to have a positive outcome to these discussions in the very near future.”

The former National Coal Board land was where Sir Bobby Robson played football as a boy, and is also home to Langley Park Hotspurs FC.

It was refurbished by Mrs Cassidy and opened by Sir Bobby’s widow, Lady Elsie, in 2014, with a new outdoor sitting area and bar added earlier this year.

Mr Cassidy has not responded to a request for comment from the Northern Echo.