Hodgson is to leave Teesside to take up a new job and Jason is disappointed to lose a valuable member of his squad.

He said: "I know that we can't stand in the way of a good job outside of speedway and we wish him all the best."

"He may still race second-halves at tracks down South and indeed fill in for us if ever we are short of riders."

The Hodgson family has links with the club going back to Rusty's grandfather Frank who was the Middlesbrough Bears' post-war captain.

His father Russ also rode with the Bears in the 1970s.