CRICKETERS have been banned from hitting sixes because of health and safety worries.

Players using a second pitch at Harrogate Cricket Club have been told they will be automatically out if they hit a six.

The decision was made after a meeting with nearby residents and it adds to regulations which force the club to have a £5m insurance cover.

The distance from the wickets to the boundary will also be restricted to the smallest distance allowed by the English Cricket Board and the club must erect temporary protective nets 20m wide and 7m high before each game.

Harrogate Council took advice from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents before making the decision to impose the rules. The council has the granted the club a licence as long as the players abide by the rules.

Mike Rawlings, Harrogate Cricket Club chairman, said: "As long as everyone knows the rules at the start of the game, you just play to the rules.

"Most of the neighbours are very supportive of the club, but we have the odd person who complains.

"Very few of the new houses on Hutton Gate and Verity Walk get hit and only a few balls get hit into the gardens of the homes in Leadhall Drive.

"Most of them just throw the balls straight back, but some of the residents, the ones who have concerns, keep them. We hope the new nets will solve the problem."

Harrogate's third and fourth teams use the pitch on an alternating weekly basis and the junior team uses the ground most evenings and on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The pitch is not suitable for English Cricket Board-run County or National competitions.

Other options considered by Harrogate council included only allowing juniors to play on the pitch and not letting cricket teams use the ground at all.

The first reference to Harrogate Cricket Club was made in 1846 and the club is renowned as one of the strongest in Yorkshire.