Cricket club stand closed after safety inspection

The North Stand at Scarborough Cricket Club has been closed to spectators after it was deemed unsafe following an inspection.

In a statement, Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC), which plays a number of fixtures at the ground each year, said the "entire stand" including the scoreboard and commentary boxes had been shut.

It said there had been a "lack of investment in facilities" in recent years due to a number of financial challenges but plans were in place to enable the return of spectators "at the earliest opportunity".

Neil Fletcher, one of six new volunteer board members at Scarborough Cricket Club, said their first priority was "bringing the club's finances back onto an even keel".

He said the club had lost approximately £66,000 in the last financial year, following losses of £110,000 in 2024-25 and "circa £40,000 a year prior".

He said the difficulties could be attributed to "probably not having the right people in place to manage and run the club" but that change was important.

"Scarborough being a remote town without a 360 degree-circumference of potential visitors, we need to make the club a hub of the community and a hub of the town, to make it an attractive place," he added.

"It generates something in the region of £3.5m for the local economy each year, and we don't want to see that lost."

Fletcher said the North Stand, also known as the Peasholm Park end, had "reached its life expectancy".

He said: "Probably not enough maintenance or investment has gone into it over the years and it has now just reached the end of the line.

"It would cost more to preserve it and continue using it than it would do to replace it, in the long term."

In the short term, Fletcher said the board would prioritise maintenance of the rest of the ground so that it "doesn't take any further steps backwards" with a new commitee set up to look at longer-term redevelopment.

"We can't just make a quick knee-jerk decision on it, it has to be a well-thought-through plan," he said.

YCCC said the Scarborough board "continues to work diligently towards achieving the long-term financial sustainability that is required to ensure the Club can flourish both on and off the pitch".

"There's change happening," Fletcher added.

"There's a massive amount of goodwill towards the club. We're getting towards that goodwill and trying to see what we can do to improve facilities for customers and stakeholders.

"We're working very closely with Yorkshire to see how that relationship can be improved and developed going forwards to maintain Scarborough as the second home of Yorkshire."

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.