With just days before the start of the season, Clenchwarton Football Club has been told it can't play on the playing fields due to the ongoing dispute.

Relations between the club and the council are thought to have been fraught for a number of years but the turmoil has reached a flashpoint this month after the council demanded a 200pc increase in rent.

The playing fields in Clenchwarton (Image: Ben Hails)

The situation has been described as an "absolute nightmare" by its chairman, leaving nearly 250 members unable to train, including a number of youth teams.

Ben Hails, 41, Clenchwarton FC's chairman, said: "We are a really well-run club and generally have the support of the local community and do all we can to support the local community.

"But the parish council do not seem to support us and has been against us from the get-go."

Ben Hails, chairman of Clenchwarton Football Club (L) celebrating donating £500 to the village church warm hub (Image: Ben Hails)

In an official statement, Mr Hails added that the actions of the parish council, which owns the........

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