A Cricket club with strong community links has had its future thrown into doubt after a row over its electricity supply.

The future of 105-year-old Barrowford Cricket Club has been put in jeopardy over its dispute with Pendle Council, which has left the club with a £10,000 bill.

The power at the club’s Bullholme pavilion was disconnected in January during work by the council to redevelop a changing pavilion on adjacent playing fields used by local football teams.

But the cricket club has now received a letter from the council, from whom it leases the land, saying power cannot be restored until the cable supplying the cricket pavilion is upgraded to comply with regulations.

The cash-strapped club, which had a surplus of just £44 last year, said it cannot afford the bill.

David Flounders, the club’s groundsman, who has been dealing with the issue, said: “The cricket club is an important community facility used regularly by some 200 cricketers.

“It’s used not only by our Barrowford teams, but also by other local teams and games involving other local cricket leagues. The youngsters from the football club have also been using the pavilion while their facilities are being rebuilt, so it’s affecting them as well.”

Mr Flounders said: “With no power we can’t light or heat the changing rooms and kitchen area. We’re currently hiring a generator which is very expensive and we won’t be able to continue with that for much longer.

“The financial ramifications put the very future of the club at risk.”

According to Garricks litigation specialist Tom Smith, it is against the terms of the lease for Pendle Borough Council to disconnect the power supply.

He said: “The disconnection of the power supply to the pavilion constitutes a breach of the lease and we have written to Pendle Borough Council informing them that we intend to take legal action if the issue is not resolved in a satisfactory way.”

Philip Mousdale, Pendle Council’s director of services and deputy chief executive, said: “We have offered advice and looked into streams of funding to help them finance the work to make their electrical cable safe.”