ATHLETES in York have expressed their concern should the running track at Huntington Stadium be removed without an adequate replacement.

As revealed in the Evening Press, an agreement has been reached whereby York City FC will move to the Monks Cross site in time for the 2004-05 season.

Under the terms of the agreement, Huntington will be leased to the club for ten years and will be "substantially" redeveloped.

Although it has still to be confirmed, the removal of the running track at Huntington is being considered as part of the stadium upgrade.

It is understood if the track, the only all-weather one in North Yorkshire, is removed it could be relocated to another venue in York.

However, while the future of the track has still to be confirmed by the City of York Council, the chair of Nestl Rowntree Athletic Club Gordon Priestley has urged its needs are not ignored.

Priestley said he shared the desire of "everyone in York" to secure the future of York City.

But he added: "The Huntington track is the only publicly available facility of its kind not only for York but also for the whole of North Yorkshire.

"Nestle Rowntree Athletic Club contributed to the cost of its construction. They use it twice weekly all year round to coach upwards of 250 young athletes from York and the surrounding area and it is a top venue for athletic competition for teams from all over the north in the athletic season.

"This track or an equivalent facility in York is essential if all this good work is to continue."

Athletes train at the Huntington Stadium track several times a week. The venue has staged the Yorkshire Championships, and English Schools trials for North Yorkshire, and the English Schools triangular matches have been held their since the track was laid down.

The Independent Schools held their championships at Huntington last year and are booked in again for this year.

NRAC member Geoffrey Barraclough, a grandson of one of the football club's founders, said the running club, Sports Aid Foundation and the Nestle Rowntree company sponsored the track when it was under Ryedale District Council.

He pointed out that when the now defunct York Wasps RL Club, a professional club, had the stadium as a home ground they had their rent subsidised while the amateur athletics club had to pay in full for all their training and meetings there."

Updated: 10:45 Friday, March 14, 2003