Bradford Dudley Hill have been 'promoted' to rugby league's 'fourth division'.

They are one of ten teams included in National League Three, which starts its inaugural season on Saturday, May 3.

The other clubs to come through the rigorous selection process to earn their places in the summer competition are Coventry Bears, Crawley Jets, Hemel Hempstead Stags, Hudders-field-Underbank Rangers, Manchester Knights, Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks, St Albans Centurions, Teesside Steelers and Warrington Woolston Rovers.

However, Hill will continue to run a team in the winter in the National Conference League, turning their playing season to a full calendar year.

The only divisions above Dudley Hill's are the Tetley's Super League, National League One and National League Two - the league Keighley Cougars are in.

National League Three, like the three divisions above them, will climax with a six-team play-off series and a Grand Final. A fixture list will be released in due course.

Dudley Hill player-coach Chris Robinson, who attended the league's launch in Westminster yesterday, said: "This is something that my club has been working towards for the past six months.

"We joined the National Conference League in 1986 and have been in the doldrums for a couple of years but have always had an eye towards the future.

"Now there is a further chance for players in Bradford and its surrounding areas to play summer rugby league.

"We are not only interested in elite players. We will welcome anyone to have a go, and I know from personal experience that summer rugby benefits players physically and mentally.

"One of the great attractions of the new division is that it broadens players' horizons. They can go down south a few times a season and play in a different environment."