CASTLE Eden Cricket Club has been saved after hitting the taxman for six.

Members feared the club would close when it was landed with a shock VAT bill for £43,000 after the completion of work on its long-awaited pavilion.

The bill threatened to spell the ruin of the club, which has been in existence in the village near Peterlee, County Durham, for more than 100 years.

When its plight was highlighted in The Northern Echo, Darlington accountancy firm Clive Owen and Company came to the rescue.

Now the club, which has since become VAT registered, is waiting for a £48,000 refund from HM Customs and Excise - well in excess of the money owed.

Now members plan to ensure the club is around for another 100 years.

Chairman Hughie Teasdale, 66, was held partly responsible for the VAT bill because he signed the contract for work on the pavilion.

Last night, he said: "I was pestered by bailiffs banging on the door at 7.30 in the morning and 9 o'clock at night.

"This is like a weight being lifted off my shoulders - at last I can sleep at nights."

He added: "The cricket club is a focal point for the whole village.

"It would have broken my heart to close, but we are solvent now and I want to say a big thank you to the accountants for helping us out."

Barry Braim, of Clive Owen and Company, said: "I first learned of the club's plight from the article in The Northern Echo and immediately phoned Mr Teasdale to offer our assistance.

"We applied for the club to be allowed to register for VAT retrospectively to when the work on the pavilion commenced. I am delighted with the result.