THREE men accused of rigging races at a greyhound track on which a punter won £45,000 have been cleared by the sport's national body.

The National Greyhound Racing Club held an inquiry this week into racing at the Regal Sunderland Stadium on November 16, 1999.

On that day, eight dogs won their races after starting from trap six in the outside lane.

The equipment used to smooth the track surface had broken down after only the outside lane had been flattened, leaving the rest of the track churned up.

Punter Kenny May, from Newcastle, had placed an accumulator bet that the first four dogs would win from trap six, a wager worth almost £44,937.

The NGRC heard accusations that former racecourse employees David Bowes and Raymond Hamill had "sabotaged" the track and equipment in order to give dogs in the number six trap an "unfair advantage".

It investigated claims of alleged conspiracy between the men and Mr May.

Mr Bowes told The Northern Echo the decision ended 14 months of hell.

He said: "Just because I know Kenny, and he placed the bet, they were saying we were giving him information.

"The bet struck by Kenny May had nothing to do with me. There have been several investigations into this and all of them have found none of us had anything to do with what happened."

Mr May, a fruiterer, placed the winning bet at his local Done's betting shop, which he regularly used. The company has yet to pay Mr May his money.

A spokesman for Done's has refused to comment on when, or indeed if, Mr May will be paid.

Earlier, police investigations into the incident found there had been "no evidence of criminal activity".

Although the three men were exonerated by this week's inquiry, the racecourse executive at the stadium were reprimanded by the NGRC.

A statement said: "The racecourse executive of Sunderland Stadium was reprimanded for breach of Rule 152 (b) in respect of acting in a manner prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of NGRC greyhound racing by failing to supervise track maintenance procedures correctly prior to a race meeting on November 16.