Council bans rugby club from playing national anthem

The club says it is the only one in the country not allowed to play God Save the Queen – which it wanted the crowd to sing along to at the grand opening of a big international match.

Bosses are welcoming an expected crowd of 1,000 to Scarborough Rugby Club to watch England Colleges play the Irish Exiles a week tomorrow.

Each nation’s songs are usually played and sung for the opening of the tournament.

But the club – in Scalby, near Scarborough – is bound by strict council rules which forbid amplified music.

Council bosses fear local villagers will be annoyed by the noise.

The club was only built because of a land swap deal with land owners The Duchy of Lancaster, 
which manages much of the Royal estate.

Club officials hope to get around the ban by fielding a brass band or jazz band onto the pitch. A spokesman said: “As long as the music is not amplified we are okay.”

Otherwise the crowds will have to take their seats in silence for the kick off.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: “The National Anthem in total is usually only 60 seconds long. I would have thought there was a perfectly good reason here for bending the rules. I’m utterly appalled.”

Scarborough Tory MP Robert Goodwill said: “I know there’s an issue in terms of the use of the PA system at the club. But surely in the case of our National Anthem there should be a dispensation.”

Scarborough Council says it imposed the ban because of complaints from local villagers about noise and the arrangements had been in place for some time.