Rhone-Poulenc Rorer gave RPR Cricket Club an ultimatum to either share a pitch with Holmes Chapel Rugby Club or play somewhere else.

But yesterday (Tuesday) cricket club chairman Mike Edge said the offer was a polite way of saying: You're out.

At a meeting of the cricket club last week members voted overwhelmingly in favour or disbanding.

"A cricket wicket cannot be shared with a rugby pitch," he said. "Everybody is shocked and dismayed at how quickly it has happened."

The cricketers had made a last-ditch attempt to save their club by informing Congleton Borough Council that goal posts erected at one end of the ground were illegal.

But a spokesman for the council said the posts should not be a problem.

"I will be informing RPR if any stray balls do find their way on the A54 for then they would be liable to any claims," he said.

But Joe Carlin, chairman of Holmes Chapel RPR Sports and Social Club, this week denied they were acting in the interests of the rugby club.

In a statement yesterday, he admitted the pitch had been maintained as a cricket wicket for years but said due to special circumstances both clubs had been given the chance to play on it.

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