CUDDLY mascot Wobby the Wasp has been kicked out of Huntington Stadium for good.

York's new rugby league club have demonstrated to fans that no links exist with York Wasps, and Wobby's departure means that every single tie with the old outfit - no matter how trivial - has now been severed.

The new club will now get a brand new mascot should it get the funds to go ahead.

Wobby had been left in the changing rooms at Huntington Stadium after the Wasps folded in March but has now been sent packing by bosses of the new club.

He was last seen hitchhiking down the M1, presumably to get a job with London-based rugby union outfit Wasps.

As reported by the Evening Press, the new York club will have a new name and a new strip to highlight the fact it will be an entirely new set-up, totally separate from the old board who folded the Wasps.

However, to be allowed into the league next year, they need £75,000 in the bank by August 31 and require fans to buy club memberships and season tickets now.

Steve Ferres - who will take the York reins if the necessary funds are raised - said some fans were not backing the new club as they were still concerned links remained with the old set-up.

But he stated: "There is no association with the previous club. We said from the start this was a new club, a new beginning. There are new people involved now, led by myself and the supporters' trust."

Updated: 11:58 Tuesday, August 20, 2002