A TALENTED young athlete was denied the chance to compete in a county contest because his application was completed in pencil.

Runner Matthew Lomax was not allowed to compete in the Durham Schools' Athletics Championships because his name on the entrants list was ticked in pencil, which didn't show up when it was faxed to the organiser .

So officials of Durham Schools' Athletics Association refused to allow the 15-year-old to compete in the 3000m, a title he was tipped to win at Jarrow on Saturday.

Mike Howard, team manager of Shildon Athletics Club, accepts he made the original error. But he says the Sunnydale Comprehensive School pupil could have competed in the race, which only three of seven runners turned up for, if officials had permitted it.

However, a spokesman for Durham Schools' AA said: "The rules are made by a committee of people from across the area and state the entries submitted are final. The mistake wasn't ours so we had to abide by the county constitution."

Coach Dave Matthew and father Neil Lomax were so angry they have written to MP Derek Foster and Durham County Council's Director of Education for support in urging officials to be more lenient in future.

Mr Matthew was especially upset because similar incidents have occurred involving Durham Schools' AA. In 1998 Weardale javelin thrower James Deacon-Brown was accidentally left off the team sheet and couldn't compete in the English Schools' Championships.

Mr Matthew said: "It's ludicrous that officials chose to stick so rigidly to the rule book and stopped a promising athlete competing for a title so important to him. This really should be the last time such a bad decision is made."

Mr Lomax added: "No disrespect to the other runners, he could probably have won the event by half a lap. It was a disgraceful decision not to let him compete. A genuine mistake was made by someone else yet Matthew was made to suffer.