TWO North Ayrshire football teams have had their half-time booze bans overturned.

Junior sides Kilwinning Rangers and Ardrossan Winton Rovers successfully had their license to sell alcohol at their games reinstated - only three months after new licensing laws were introduced.

Back in September, North Ayrshire Licensing Board agreed to impose new restrictions in a bid to clamp down on boozy behaviour at junior football matches.

This would include asking clubs applying for an occasional licence (in order to sell alcohol) to notify the Board and Police Scotland within 14 days of their intention for a specific game.

The sale of alcohol is also now restricted to immediately before and after the game.

But representatives from Kilwinning Rangers and Ardrossan Winton Rovers insisted they were being severely hampered by the new conditions.

And they revealed the clubs were losing around £100 per game due to the half-time prohibition.

Addressing the board at its most recent meeting, Pat Breen, Chairman of Ardrossan Winton Rovers, said: “We’ve got to raise money to survive and a lot of income comes from people getting a refreshment at the game.

“The half-time restrictions have hurt us. We employ stewards at every game to make sure there’s no alcohol taken into the ground.

“We’re trying our best at the club and we feel we’re getting punished because of situations at other Junior clubs.”

Kilwinning Rangers Secretary, Jim Bryson, added: “We’re in a very similar footing. The requirement to advise who our opponents are has proven to be very difficult for us.

“There’s a lot of constraints and it’s a very difficult task.

“From a policing aspect, we have no real history at all of any crowd trouble.We’re doing a lot of work to improve things.”

He added: “Our crowd for the Beith game, which would normally be one of our busier games, was down and we can attribute that to the fact we do not have bar facilities available.

“To give 14 days notice of who we’re playing is quite a challenge for us.”

The board agreed to lift the half-time ban but advised that both clubs would need to consult with the Scottish Junior Football Association about providing fixture lists in advance.

The restriction was only lifted for Kilwinning Rangers and Ardrossan Winton Rovers meaning other junior clubs would have to make a similar application.