Ground staff arrived on Wednesday to begin vital work to repair the pitch, but were unable to get in after discovering new chains and padlocks had been fastened to the gates.

Now bewildered club officials are trying to establish why they have been locked out.

The ground is owned by Bassetlaw Council and leased to Howard Raymond's company 1861 Leisure Ltd.

The football club in turn lease the use of the pitch and dressing rooms from 1861 Leisure.

A club statement on Thursday said: "Worksop Town is extremely disappointed to report that the football club was denied access onto the ground by 1861 Leisure Ltd."

"Club officials arrived in the morning with the intention of commencing preliminary maintenance work on the pitch, only to find that the gates had been chained and padlocked."

"Instructions have been received to remove all of the club's property from the ground. As yet we have not received any official explanation for these actions and constructive discussions are under way with Bassetlaw Council concerning the club's position."

On the playing side, manager Peter Rinkcavage says his side's preparations for next week's Sheffield Senior Cup final have been hampered by the lock out.

He said: "Our preparations have been harmed without a doubt. We were supposed to be training on the pitch and now we have to make other arrangements."

The club say they have been unable to speak to Mr Raymond about the issue.

The Worksop Guardian has also attempted to contact Mr Raymond, but he has been unavailable for comment.

Voluntary groundsman and club director Chris Smith arrived at the ground on Wednesday with a rotivator to carry out preliminary work on the pitch, ahead of the arrival of contractors who were scheduled to begin reseeding the playing surface today.

Unable to get in, he now believes the club's window of opportunity for crucial pitch maintenance, which is financed by Sheffield United as part of a deal to allow their reserves to play at Sandy Lane, has come and gone.

He told the Guardian: "We need to get the pitch reseeded so that it has time to regenerate before the pre-season friendlies begin in July, but it looks like we're going to miss that window now and we don't know why we've been stopped from doing essential work."

"We've got to do the work now. We've had the contractors booked for two months and now that we've been locked out, we're off schedule for the pitch maintenance."

And club chairman John Hepworth added: "What is frustrating for us is that after having three seasons of absolute hassle, we've reached a position where things are starting to look up.

"But now we can't make plans for the immediate future, because we're locked out of the ground."

Chris Pridmore, the chairman of the 1861 Tigers Trust, believes the situation could cause serious damage to the club.

In a statement he said: "In view of the latest news regarding Worksop Town Football Club Ltd, the 1861 Tigers Trust Board are shocked to say the least at this announcement."

"It is yet another sad chapter in the long history of our beloved club."
"The actions which have been taken could undermine everything we are all striving for in our aims to move the football club forward, under the guidance of John Hepworth and the new consortium."

Tigers have reached an agreement with Worksop Rugby Club so the footballers can train at their Stubbing Lane facilities.
The lockout coincides with news that a planned two-day pop festival at the ground in June has been cancelled. (see news report)