York: Amateur sports clubs losing money due to wet weather

Paul Harrison, from Heworth Amateur Rugby League Club, said the rain has made the pitches dangerous

A rugby club has said it is struggling after being unable to play 50 games this year due to the recent rainfall.

Heworth Amateur Rugby League Club is one of several sports clubs in York facing issues caused by the weather.

The club's Paul Harrison said having to cancel matches was financially damaging.

BBC Look North climate correspondent Paul Hudson said parts of North Yorkshire had seen a month's worth of rainfall in the first half of April.

Mr Harrison told BBC Radio York in places there are parts of the pitch where "your feet are sinking up to your ankles".

"So if someone is tackling you during a game, your ankle won't give way because it's already down in the ground.

"The other factor is that the games are very fast and move on quickly, so if someone is laying down in a puddle with a head concussion, the consequences could be really terrible."

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The impact of wet weather has been felt by many amateur sports clubs

Mr Harrison said the club had only played one home game this season, which had a real impact on finances.

"We're run by volunteers, so you rely on some big home weekends when we might get a few hundred people watching us, as the bar and kitchen will be open, there will be raffles to bring in revenue streams," he said.

"We've lost 50 home matches now due to this rain - including the juniors, the ladies, the open age, so it is quite catastrophic.

"You can't put a number on each game, but all I know is we've got nothing coming in because we're permanently shut."

Elsewhere, David Williams, who plays golf at Pike Hills Golf Club, in Tadcaster Road, York, said the weather has been "unbelievably frustrating" as it has meant the club has been closed for 39 days since the start of the year.

"I wake up in the morning and there's a blue sky, so I'm like 'yes finally, spring has arrived, it's going to be nice dry weather', then it just regresses, so it is soul-destroying really," he said.

Mark Shields, chairman at Huntington Football Club, said 70% of matches have been cancelled this year

And over at the Huntington Rovers Football club in York, 70% of matches have also been cancelled due to the waterlogged pitches.

Mark Shields, chairman at the club, said it is "massively frustrating as everyone's weekend is affected".

"It's not just the players, it's the parents, grandparents, referees.

"I've never known a season like this, it has been totally unprecedented and absolutely bonkers," he said.