DELIGHT turned to despair for the four members of the Loftus and Whitby team which travelled 50 miles to win the Sunderland Open Cross Country senior men's relay - only to be disqualified for breaking an eligibility rule.

Former Great Britain international Stephen Hepples clocked the second fastest time of the day as he went from eighth to second on the second 1.8-mile leg but was told that, under UK Athletics rules, as his first claim club is London outfit Newham and Essex Beagles, he was not entitled to represent his home-town club, Loftus and Whitby, in the event.

Race referee Nick Hodgson explained: "In all open team competitions runners have to be first-claim members to compete for their club."

Hepples, 32, who helped Newham and Essex Beagles win the National Six Stage, 12 Stage and English Cross Country Championships in 2006, said: "I thought the rule only applied to championship events - there was nothing on the entry form about teams being restricted to first claim club runners only.

"It is a bit of a sickener for the lads to be disqualified like this after coming so far and winning the relay. It's essentially my fault and I do feel for them because they are very disappointed after a performance like that.

"I'm still a member of Newham and Essex Beagles because it gives me the chance to compete at a higher level and I honestly didn't know I couldn't run here for Loftus and Whitby."

James Wilson (9.19) had handed over to Hepples (8.36) on the second leg and then 51-year-old veteran John Hunter (9.40) pushed the North Yorkshire outfit into the lead, with anchor-man Paul Butler (9.18) coming home four seconds ahead of Sunderland Harriers, who were awarded the race by default. Last year's winners, Tyne Bridge were promoted to second and Heaton Harriers took the bronze medals.

Last year, in the same event, winners Wallsend Harriers were disqualified when it was discovered that one of their team was still a member of Morpeth Harriers.

Durham City's Rosie Smith won the women's 1.8-mile race for a fourth consecutive year, beating clubmate Aiveen Fox by an emphatic 47 seconds. Smith, the North-East cross country champion who was runner-up in the previous weekend's big Tees Pride 10K said: "I always use this race as a springboard to the cross country season, which I love."

Results - Senior men's relay (4x1.8m): 1 Sunderland Harriers 36 mins 57 secs (N Reed 9.18 (6), M Hood (1) 8.35, D Weston (1) 9.37, C Isherwood (1) 9.27); 2 Tyne Bridge 38.15; 3 Heaton 38.44; 4 Birtley 39.07; 5 Tynedale 39.41. Loftus and Whitby 36.53 disq. Fastest times: 1 M Hood 8.35; 2 S Ellis (North Shields Poly) 9.04; 3 T Carter (Tyne Bridge) 9.05. S Hepples (disq) 8.36.

Veteran Men (4x1.8m): 1 Elswick 39.14 (P Sanderson (1) 9.37, M Turnbull (1) 10.15, P Turner (1) 9.36, L Bennett (1) 9.46; 2 Tyne Bridge 39.41; 3 Sunderland 41.45. Fastest time: K MacPherson (Tyne Bridge) 9.31

Under-17 Men (1.8m): 1 P Winkler (Morpeth) 9.18; 2 C Peverley (Birtley) 9.19; 3 T Goulding (Birtley) 9.21. Under-15 Boys (1.8m): 1 J Armstrong (Gateshead) 9.24; 2 M Lonsdale (Gates) 9.24; 3 R Green (Morpeth) 9.42. Under-13 Boys (1.8m): 1 K Hedley (Morpeth) 10.30; 2 M Wakefield (South Shields ) 10.38; 3 J Potts (Elswick) 10.37. Under-11 Boys (1K): 1 J Fiddaman (Blyth) 4.08; 2 M Clough (Birtley) 4.18; 3 L McConnell (Birtley) 4.32.

Senior Women (1.8m): 1 R Smith (Durham City) 9.46; 2 A Fox (Dur C) 10.33; 3 P Williams (Elswick) 10.52; 4 H Warburton (Gosforth) 11.12; 5 Lucy Robinson (North Shields Poly) 11.19.

Under-17 Women (1.8m): 1 L Turner (Birtley) 10.11; 2 A Brown (Morpeth) 11.13; 3 A Fawcett (Birtley) 11.19. Under-15 Girls (1.8m): 1 F McPate (Gosforth) 11.02; 2 D Elliott (Sunderland) 11.11; 3 A Cassidy (Elswick) 11.20. Under-13 Girls (1.8m): 1 S Purves (Gosforth) 11.13; 2 C Williamson (Gosforth) 11.55; 3 H Matheson (Heaton) 12.02. Under-11 Girls (1K): 1 E Hardie (Houghton) 4.21; 2 N Stephenson (Chester-le-Street ) 4.21; 3 L Hardy (Houghton) 4.22.

*New Marske Harrier Adam Walker (2095 pts) and Durham City's Rachel Coar (2721) won the senior events in the North-East Counties Open Pentathlon Championships at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium.

Other age category winners were - Men: Vets P McCluskey (South Shields) 2591; U17 N Waters (Derwentside ) 2487; U15 B Mitchell (Houghton) 1361; U13 D Roberts (wakefield) 1296.

Women: Vets J Friend (Heaton) 1235; U20 C Sadler (Gateshead) 2287; U17 C Kessell (Middlesbrough Mandale) 2787; U15 B Pringle (gates) 2700; U13 A Linaker (City of York) 2175.

*The North-East Veterans' 10,000m championships results were - M35 P Tarbitt (Gates) 38:13.1; M40 K Harker (Richmond & Zetland) 37:36.9; M50 K Blyth (Sunderland Strollers) 37:46.7; M55 K Freeman (Blyth) 47:46.7; M60 P Walker (South Shields) 43:40.1. 5,000m: M65 H Matthews (Elswick) 19:59.3; M70 M Stephenson (South Shields) 25:21.7). Women: W40 H Christopher (Blyth) 20:28.4; W45 Y Thiru (Els) 19:36.1; W50 J Friend (Heaton) 22:21.3; W60 J Kilgour (Heaton) 25:02.6; W70 C Lee (Els) 24:37.5.