Plans for a return to British speedway by a Workington team have had to be put on hold.

Vandalism at the Northside site over the past fortnight has blighted efforts to get the track prepared and facilities built for involvement in the 2022 National Development League season.

North Cumbrian businessman Andrew Bain, keen to revive speedway in the town after the demise of the Comets, has informed the British Speedway Promoters’ Association of the latest setback.

Rob Godfrey, the BSPA chairman, has been sympathetic to the situation and has encouraged the efforts to bring back the sport to the town.

Bain will be granted an open licence so that he would be able to run open meetings or individual events to get speedway up and running again, with a view to joining the league in 2023.

The old Northside track had been dug up and replaced with a longer one, and over the last few weeks hardcore has been put down and new shale had just been put down on one of the corners.

Former Workington Comets star Steve Lawson has been involved in redesigning the track and says work had been progressing well with the intention of entering the league in 2022.

“We have increased the size of the track, with straights and bends as wide as Belle Vue,” he said.

“In distance it’s about 300 metres, which is only 47 metres short of Belle Vue.

“A lot of time and effort has been put into reshaping and landscaping the whole arena.

“The old pits have been removed, along with an area of banking, and Andrew has ordered 1,200 seats for spectators.

“Although it would just be third tier speedway, the league has improved tremendously in standard over the years and I’ve seen some really good racing.”

All had been progressing nicely until a fortnight ago when the gate locks were smashed, property on the site was damaged and a telegraph pole was set fire to in a bid to obtain copper from a £3,000 transformer.