A Dorchester-based croquet club which boasts three England players has been given its marching orders from Kingston Maurward College grounds.

The club, formed in 1987, has been given notice to quit at the end of the summer season and is now desperately looking for a new home.

The College say it has simply become too costly to maintain the area.

The club’s 50 members travel from throughout the county to play, some several times a week, on the lawns to the side of the main college building. The setting is idyllic but the college has served notice to quit by the end of this season.

Club members have been looking around the county to find a new home and although they have a couple of possibilities have also ruled out more than a dozen possible sites. Now they are asking Dorset residents to see if they can think of somewhere which might be suitable – ideally within 15 miles of Dorchester.

They need a flat surface, about the size of a bowling green, ideally bigger, nearby toilets and having somewhere to store equipment. Unless something suitable can be found they fear the club may have to close.

The other nearest clubs are in Parkstone, Poole and over the border into Devon and at Dowlish Wake in Somerset.

Club chairman Tim Dennis says that offers for members to carry out maintenance of the lawns and marking out were rejected by the college along with a modest increase in the amount the club pays. He says members have now, reluctantly, accepted that they must move and now need to find a new place to play.

The club holds two formal sessions a week and also takes part in about a dozen matches a year against regional competitors which stretch from Cornwall to Bristol. Both sociable golf croquet and the more tactical association croquet are played at the club throughout the season which lasts from April to October.

“In the last few months we have looked at about 15 potential venues; we are following up on one or two and are thinking of more all the time, but it may be that somebody has a suitable venue or can think of one, in which case we would be delighted to hear from them,” said Tim, who can be contacted on 0777 037 0927 or emailed at timjdennis@btinternet.com

Among the club’s national players is Steve Leonard from Wool who recently played for England in his age category in Egypt.

Steve, a former lorry driver, took up the game with wife Michelle, also a competition winner, when they moved to the area in 2012, joining the Kingston Maurward club after attending an open day in 2015.

Both have seen a rapid improvement in their handicap since joining the club, putting it down not only to their hard work, but coaching from fellow members, including another England player Johathan Powe from Sherborne. The club’s third England player is Kath Burt ,also from Wool, who recently represented the country in New Zealand.

“It’s such a friendly club and in a lovely setting. Who wouldn’t want to play here?” said Steve, “It’s so sad for us as a club that we are having to now find somewhere else.”

He and Michelle are also both members at East Dorset, which has five competition lawns and play throughout the year, but both prefer the slightly shorter drive to Dorchester for its setting and social side.

“It’s a wonderful game which people can enjoy into their more mature years. It’s such a shame it may now disappear from this part of the county if we can’t find somewhere else to go,” said Michelle, whose other sporting talents used to include being a county level table tennis player, “Quite a lot of people who play have taken part in sport throughout their lives,” she said, “It’s ideal when you are not quite as active as you used to be.”

The view is echoed by club secretary Alwin Greder: “The game particularly attracts those who have enjoyed ball sports throughout, or at one time, in their lives, and often at a time when they may be looking for a less energetic activity. We have many current and former golf, tennis and hockey players among our members. The intriguing tactics employed are also an attraction and the social side of the game is popular,” she said.

Principal and chief executive of the College, Luke Rake, said: “Sadly we are having to say goodbye to croquet club due to the very high costs of the upkeep of the lawn. We wish them the very best in finding a new location.”