Plans to merge two of York's leading amateur rugby league clubs have been scrapped.

New Earswick All Blacks had approached Heworth about joining forces next season to strengthen the sport's presence in the east of the city.

But last night at a packed meeting at their clubhouse, the All Blacks' members voted unanimously to throw out the proposal.

Their spokesman Charles Rollinson said: "Heworth came up with too many conditions which weren't acceptable. It was agreed the arrangements were not in the best interests of the club."

One of the key problems was the name of the new club. Heworth's members insisted their name should stand, possibly in the guise of Heworth All Blacks, but New Earswick refused to play under the Heworth banner.

"The idea was to set up a totally new club from scratch but Heworth were trying to keep everything their way," added Rollinson.

Heworth spokesman Ken Sykes said: "It's a bit disappointing. They approached us in the first instance and the only thing we objected to was the name.

"They had already conceded the basic common-sense of having the juniors based at Heworth.

"We had some concerns but we were prepared to keep negotiations going."

New Earswick, who finished bottom of the National Conference League second division last season, will not be applying for re-election to the competition.

They are now considering their options for next season but their most likely route is into the Yorkshire League.

They did not expect to gain re-election to the NCL because of the lack of a full junior and youth set-up.

Heworth will continue to play in the NCL second division following their relegation from division one last season.

Updated: 10:11 Thursday, May 24, 2001