King's Lynn Stars have been hit by a one-point deduction. Picture: Matthew Usher.

King’s Lynn Stars chiefs have hit out at the Speedway Control Bureau for deciding to change their draw at Swindon to a defeat.

The SCB ruled that guest Cory Gathercole - who they say was brought in to replace David Howe and Ulrich Ostergaard - was ineligible to ride for Lynn on the night and deducted the two points he scored. The amendment means Lynn’s 45-45 draw on July 19 has been changed to a 45-43 defeat, much to the disgust of the Stars hierarchy.

A club statement said: “King’s Lynn speedway are saddened and confused to learn that the SCB have decided to alter the result of their away meeting at Swindon.

“It is clear that even without the new 1-7 being in effect because of the previous night’s rain off, we were still entitled to use a guest for the previously declared Joe Screen/David Howe partnership as neither rider was available for this fixture.

“What is even more surprising is that this result has been altered nearly three weeks after the meeting took place, at which point neither the Swindon promotion or official SCB referee had any issues with King’s Lynn using Cory Gathercole as a guest.

“We believe that decisions like this are clearly not in the best interest of the sport, and we can only worry about the future of speedway in Great Britain as a result.”

The SCB ruled that Lynn were only entitled to use a Premier League rider whose match average was 6.00 or less. Gathercole’s average was 6.50.

As a punishment for using the Somerset Rebels rider, the Stars two-point haul for an away draw was reduced to just one - the total gained for an away defeat by six points or less. Swindon gained an extra point as a result of their ‘home win’.