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Harlow Town have hit out at a ruling which means they cannot be promoted this season.

The Essex club pulled out of Southern League Division One Central in December 2022 because of problems with their artificial pitch.

Danny Chapman's team now play two steps lower in Eastern Counties League Division One South and are currently top of the table.

"This latest setback is a bitter pill to swallow," said

"In the last week we have been formally made aware that a further penalty for our withdrawal is that we cannot be promoted from our current division for at least one season after withdrawal.

"This we are sure is subject to an appeal process, however [we] feel that further appeals would prove to be as futile as the original one we lodged upon being relegated two steps.

"We are unsure whether our fellow league members have been made formally aware of this fact, however [we] think that highly unlikely based upon how teams have approached fixtures against us."

Harlow had a new 3G playing surface installed in the summer of 2022 and say the issues which forced them to abandon the subsequent season have been resolved at "significant expense".

As well as relegation from the Southern League, the club said they were also fined and banned from playing in the FA Cup.

The statement added: "This formal notification comes at a time that we sit top of the league... even if we are fortunate enough to secure what should be a play-off place that an offer of a place will not be made to us.

"It seems quite ridiculous that we could, however, fall foul of relegation if our league position dictated that."