Leicestershire cricket club plea as car overturns onto outfield - again

The incident occurred at Barkby United CC on Saturday, January 27, resulting in damage to the fence and the outfield which could cost over £2,000 to repair

A Leicestershire cricket club is pleading with the county council to reduce the speed limit on a neighbouring road after a car crashed through their perimeter fence.

The incident occurred at Barkby United CC on Saturday, January 27, resulting in damage to the fence and the outfield.

Everyone in the vehicle escaped without serious injury.

It's not the first time a traffic incident has impacted the club - a 2nd XI match against Medbourne was suspended in June 2017 after a car came through the fence - and given the proximity of the boundary rope to the road, the club are keen to see the speed limit on Thorpe Lane, also known as Cricketers' Hill, cut from 60mph.

"From my memory it's the third time in the past five to 10 years that it's happened, pretty much exactly the same spot," club secretary, Jack Wood, told The Cricketer.

^{A car crashed through the fence at Barkby United CC [Barkby United CC, with thanks]}

"I know from previous secretaries and chairmen at the club that they've tried to petition Leicestershire County Council to reduce the speed limit. It's a national speed limit road, 60mph down the hill, and it doesn't turn to 30mph until the bottom of the hill where it enters the village.

"It's a ridiculous speed limit and it's quite a steep hill, so you can pick up a lot of speed in a short amount of time.

"The rope for the boundary is sometimes less than half a metre away – it's not the biggest of grounds and boundary size dictates it has to be near the fence."

As the club sits within the Barkby and Barkby Thorpe Conservation Area, any repairs have to comply with local conservation rules and could cost in excess of £2,000.

While Barkby United hope the cost of the damage will be covered by insurance, either the driver's or their own, they have previously had to use club funds, something which would hurt them financially as they are still recovering from a vandalism incident which occurred last year.

In June, the square was doused in weedkiller, resulting in £10,000 worth of damage and depriving the club of much-needed matchday earnings for much of the season.

"We're going to get in touch with the council and we're trying to go through the various insurance routes so it doesn't have to come out of the club's funds, which are not the greatest as we're only a small village club," Wood continued.

"Last season, our square was vandalised. Luckily, we managed to raise quite a lot of money through a crowdfunding page, but the club's budget took a big hit with not being able to open [and] we lost out on bar sales throughout the summer.

"For another £2,000 to be put on top [of that] wouldn't be great."

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