A KEY court decision which could affect the future of one of the North-East’s most highprofile sporting venues is due today.

Villagers have been embroiled in a legal dispute with bosses at Croft Circuit, near Darlington, over noise levels at the race track which has hosted events featuring some of motorsport’s biggest names, including Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Thousands of fans visit the circuit every year for flagship competitions including the British Touring Car Championship and the British Superbikes, but organisers have warned that future events could be threatened if High Court judges today back an order awarding £150,000 in compensation to local residents.

In April last year, Derek and Julia Watson, and their daughter Jill Wilson, won a case against Croft Promo-Sport Limited after complaining that their lives had been marred by “loud, intrusive and repetitive noise”.

The Watsons and Mrs Wilson, the former wife of Croft’s former circuit manager Jimmy Wilson, live next to the track at nearby Dalton-on-Tees.

They say they do not want the track to close, but Croft Promo- Sport director Derek Carter was warned that organisers would have to think “very carefully”

about staging future events if the decision is upheld.

British Rally Champion Guy Wilks, from Darlington, said last night that motorsports fans from across the region would be affected if racing comes to an end at Croft.

“I started my career there, so it obviously has a special place in my heart,” said 28-year-old Wilks.

“There are a lot of fans out there who should not be denied the opportunity to watch racing at Croft.

“It is the best race circuit for hundreds of miles to the north and south, and it brings so much to the local economy.

“I am not saying that people should be allowed to race around Croft 24 hours a day. There has to be a balance.

“But Croft is a great venue and it would be terrible to lose it.”

Motorsports fans have set up a Save Croft Circuit group on the social networking site Facebook, which has now attracted nearly 10,000 members.

The Watsons and Mrs Wilson’s objection was not to the big race events, but to vehicle testing days and track days, when members of the public are given access to the track to drive their cars at high speeds. The judge awarded them damages based on the blight on the value of their homes caused by the noise and for their “loss of amenity” in their homes.

The family’s solicitor, Paul Stookes, said last night that the family do not want to see an end to racing at Croft, but do want stricter controls put in place when private race events take place.

“Our clients have been seeking a reasonable solution to this matter for many years, and it has never been about closing the circuit or stopping public events,”

he said.

“The judge in the original case awarded compensation, but that was never what my clients were asking for.”