A JUNIOR rugby club staged a protest in anger at the lack of a local venue to play the sport.

Members, players and supporters of Queensbury Juniors ARLFC gathered with signs and banners outside Queensbury High School, Deanstones Lane, before making their way to the half-finished clubhouse and field at the Albert Road Recreation Ground in a bid to highlight their plight.

Construction work on the ambitious project to provide changing rooms, a club room and pitches for amateur rugby league in the village began in 2009.

The facility was 17 years in the planning and received substantial funding from both Sport England and the Council.

But in 2011, work on the clubhouse ground to a halt after money ran out.

Last month, Bradford Council forced Queensbury Sports and Social Club into liquidation, citing failure to pay back a Ward Investment Fund grant and not meeting the terms of funding agreement.

At the time, the Council said one of its “key priorities” was to ensure rugby league could return to the site.

It’s a dream which the club would like to see materialise, providing Queensbury clubs with a place to play matches.

Chairman Alan Turner said the junior teams had suffered a setback last year after being told they could no longer play at Queensbury High School on a weekend.

Mr Turner said while Foxhill Park acts as a training base during the week, a proper pitch is needed to play matches on.

Because of that, younger teams were forced to go across the border to Halifax to play at Trinity Academy.

Mr Turner said: “It was our only option. The facilities are good, but it’s out of the village - it’s not in Queensbury or the Bradford district.”

The older junior teams play at the ASA Briggs pitch at Clayton Heights which have no changing facilities or toilets, so have to use those at Foxhill Park.

Mr Turner said the club had unsuccessfully tried to meet with Queensbury High School and was told there are no plans to open the facilities on a weekend.

He said the ideal situation would be for Bradford Council to finish the facilities at Albert Road and for junior teams to be able to play at the school in the meantime.

A Bradford council spokesperson said: “Bradford Council is committed to working closely with the rugby club to ensure that the Albert Road Recreation Ground site can be used by them as soon as possible.”

While a statement issued from the Feversham Education Trust, which runs Queensbury High School, said: “The school has hosted Queensbury rugby teams on our pitches at weekends and also other groups within the school for a number of years. We are currently willing to work with local and voluntary organisations to see how our facilities can be better utilised by the community however during the current financial climate, the school is keen to find a sustainable cost-neutral solution.”