Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers will be seeking compensation from British Midlands Airways and lodging a protest with the UK Women's League, following a fiasco that ruined their long, rain-soaked day at Glasgow for a Division One match.

Team manager Irene Peaty described the catalogue of disaster. 'We travelled with the Windsor, Slough and Eton, and Aldershot teams on a British Midland Airways flight from Heathrow to save money, but it still cost our club £3,000.

'Our pole vaulters watched carefully to ensure their equipment was loaded on to the plane. But, on landing at Glasgow, we were shocked to discover the poles were missing. It seems they had been loaded on to the plane, but were removed while a search went on for another passenger's luggage, and not put back.

'We were told that they would be dispatched on the next flight, and phoned the stadium seeking a postponement of the pole vault, but were refused.'

It wasn't until Shaftesbury arrived back at Heathrow that they were able to collect their poles.

'When we arrived at the stadium, we were shocked to discover that poles were not kept there. That's unusual at this level,' said Irene. 'The team managers met, and it was agreed that the five teams with poles would put them into a pool, guaranteeing that each club had at least one.

'It was agreed that the competition should go ahead but technical problems delayed the start for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Trafford withdrew their poles from the pool without consulting the referee, and our girls, Katie Alexander and Jo Hughes, both on the short side, were left without any suitable poles. I spoke to the league secretary, but she said it was too late to change things.

'Conditions for pole-vaulting were terrible. There were no hangers on the poles to assist competitors, and the box was deemed dangerous.'

'To rub salt into our wounds, we watched a Sale official assist their second-string jumper to get over the bar, and earn five points that were to mean the difference between victory and defeat for us.

'I heard Janine Whitlock, Britain's No1 pole vaulter, say that she had not competed at Glasgow for two years because conditions were too dangerous.

'It wasn't just the pole vault farce that gave cause for concern. Heavy rain left the inside lane of the track flooded, and no attempt was made to clear it. The high jump pit was not swept, and our competitor Dalia Micneviciute fell twice before the event was abandoned.

'It cost three clubs a total of £10,000 to compete, and after what we experienced at the top level, I am very worried about the future of British women's athletics.'

After lying a close second behind Sale throughout the day, Shaftesbury needed to win the final event, the 4x400m relay, to snatch victory. Hopes were high when they held a narrow lead approaching the finishing line.

But Sale swooped to win by inches in 3mins 47.24secs, with Shaftesbury three-hundredths of a second behind in second spot. Sale won the match by two points, 206-204.

If the outcome of the protest is that the pole vault is declared null and void, or the points are shared among the competing clubs, Shaftesbury would emerge winners of the match, and second in the table, with a chance of taking the title in the final meeting at Birmingham next month.

Match result: 1 Sale 206 points, 2 Shaftesbury Barnet 204, 3 Wakefield 149.5, 4 Windsor, Slough and Eton 146.5, 5 Birchfield 145.5, 6 Aldershot 131, 7 Trafford 127, 8 City of Glasgow 123.5.

League standings (after two matches): 1 Sale 16, 2 Windsor, Slough and Eton 12, 3 Wakefield 12, 4 Shaftesbury 11.5. 5 Birchfield 7. 6 Trafford 6.5. 7 Aldershot, 5. 8 City of Glasgow 2.

Shaftesbury scored doubles in the 100m, high jump and shot. Abi Oyepitan was the impressive 100m A winner in 11.53secs, and Catherine Murphy took the 'B' in 11.86ecs.

In the 200m, Shani Anderson was edged out by Marcia Richardson. Both were credited with the same time, 24.1secs. Murphy (24.14secs) was best of the 'B's.

In the high jump, Dalia Micnevicuite and Lee McConnell both cleared 1.70m.

Julie Dunkley was successful in the shot (15.87m) and Tracey Axten (13.26m) was best of the 'B's.

There was also a brave run from Jo Newcombe, second in the 5,000m in 16mins 55.91secs.

Windsor's Michelle Griffiths, from Edgware, won the triple jump (13.29m).