King's Lynn Stars' troubles continued yesterday when Seb Alden called time on his spell with the club.

The Swede, who recently signed with Plymouth to double-up in the Premier League but left without even riding for the club, has decided to quit British speedway with immediate effect because of personal reasons.

He signed for Lynn during the winter of 2012 and was a key rider at the start of this year's Elite League campaign. However, Rob Lyon will now be forced to make a new signing.

'It's a real shame that Seb has decided not to ride again in the UK this season for the Stars or Plymouth, but we have to respect his decision and move on,' said Lynn's team boss.

'We have opened discussions with another rider and hopefully we will be in a position to announce something very soon.'

Alden scored 98, plus 15 bonus points, from his 73 rides for the Norfolk Arena outfit. The Swede departs on an average of 5.38 leaving Lynn with up to 5.98 to work with in finding a replacement.

He missed out on Lynn's last clash, a 54-39 defeat, at Peterborough with a foot injury – the latest in a huge number of fitness problems to hit the Stars.

The on-going curse hasn't helped the Saddlebow Road men's play-off hopes as they've lost seven of their last eight meetings to drop to sixth in the Elite League table.