YOUNG people are ignoring traditional pub games such as fives and threes because they can no longer add up in their heads, it has been claimed.

The claim was made as members of a North-East dominoes league defeated a vote to allow women into their league in a bid to boost falling numbers.

The decision by the Darlington and District Fives and Threes League has been called a “vote for common sense”, because the league already has its own women’s and mixed section.

The league staged a referendum on whether women should be allowed to complete for the first time in its 50-year history because some menonly teams were struggling to field a full allocation of eight players.

George Jenkinson, who plays for The Three Crowns, said: “The number of men in the fives and threes league is going down because young lads don’t seem to play the game.

“Because of computers and laptops they don’t add up and let other things do it for them.”

Barry Smith, who has drawn up the league programme, said that although not all the votes had yet been counted, enough teams had voted to keep the status quo that women would not be admitted into the league.

It was the second time in three years that the league had taken such a vote, but Mr Smith believed the issue would now be “put to bed for a long time”.

He added: “I didn’t mind them playing, but I know some teams didn’t want them and would have dropped out of the league, so maybe it’s not a bad thing.

“I think it was opposed by the players because women have their own league and there is a mixed league so why should they play in a men’s league.”

He suggested that teams were short of players because of a lack of young talent and fewer sons playing with their fathers.

Dominoes player and The Northern Echo columnist Mike Amos campaigned against allowing women to play, but said his stance was nothing to do with “sexism, ageism or barbarism”.

He said: “There are women’s leagues and mixed leagues, so why on earth shouldn’t there be a lads’ league. It’s a vote for common sense.

“Unfortunately, like a lot of things, it’s not something that young ‘uns want to do.”