An official inquiry will today look at why King's Lynn walked out of their meeting against Eastbourne Eagles at Arlington on April 28.

The Norfolk side were due to ride in an Elite League fixture but withdrew minutes before tapes up in a protest after one of their riders was ruled ineligible.

A panel has been set up by motor-cycling's top authority in the UK, the ACU, to look at the circumstances.

Two Eastbourne riders "raced" unopposed for four laps and 15 heats. As a result the Eagles scored a 75-0 victory, a result which has, in some ways been ratified by the Speedway Control Board.

The Board has turned down an Eastbourne request for riders' averages to be reduced to take account of the unusual nature of the King's Lynn meeting.

The speedway authorities are staying tight-lipped about today's proceedings, although it is believed the King's Lynn promoters will strongly defend their actions.

They withdrew the team after the referee, Jim Lawrence, ruled Danny Bird could not ride as a replacement for the injured Lee Redmond.

Bird's average was 0.01 too high but King's Lynn said they had special dispensation to use him from the chairman of the British Speedway Promoters' Association.

Now the ACU has to pass judgement on a fiasco which has once again left the sport with red faces.

As well as having a huge wage bill from their own riders, Eastbourne re-funded admission money to travelling fans while the home supporters were given free admission to a subsequent meeting at Arlington.

The bill for the Eagles is thought to total thousands of pounds and the club wants compensation.