A CRICKET club is counting the cost of storm damage after freak summer weather which swept across York wrecked its new £32,000 nets.

The facilities at Dunnington Cricket Club’s Common Road ground were only unveiled a month ago and were intended to be used for a coaching course for young cricketers next week.

But strong winds on Wednesday afternoon sent one of the ground’s sightscreens crashing into the nets, meaning they are now likely to be out of action for the rest of the season.

The storm also brought down trees and power cables in Dunnington and forced the closure of the Tesco store at Askham Bar after the roof started leaking.

In the Goole area, firefighters were also called out to deal with flash floods, with Humberside Fire & Rescue Service saying they received 135 calls in three hours, mostly about flooding incidents.

Dunnington Cricket Club’s project manager and treasurer David Bristow yesterday met Dunnington Playing Fields Association chairman Pete Mulligan to assess the damage.

The current York & District Senior League premier division champions now hope insurance will cover the cost of repairs.

“If the sightscreen had just blown over, the nets would have been fine, but the wind pushed it into the nets and damaged their structure,” said club chairman Graham Freer.

“We hope they can be repaired, but we don’t know whether they will be ready before the end of the season in five weeks.

“We still have our old nets, which were due to be dismantled and disposed of, if needed, but we have three coaching courses for juniors next week and, although they will go ahead, the new nets which now can’t be used were meant to give some added benefit.

“I really feel for David Bristow, because this project was two years in the making and these nets have been extensively used since they were installed.”

The storm also blew another sightscreen down and damaged a tree at the ground, but tomorrow’s first-team match against Sessay will go ahead.

Judges were yesterday due to run the rule over Dunnington’s Britain in Bloom entry, with volunteers getting to work on Wednesday afternoon on fixing damage to displays.

Meanwhile, Mary Marsden, 64, who lives at The Glebe sheltered housing facility, thanked City of York Council workers who cleaned up her home after the storm led to between two and three inches of water gushing in.

“It was absolutely terrible, but they came out quickly and soaked up the water, so I’m very grateful to them and my dog-walker Lorraine Airth for all their help,” she said.