Sheppey Sunday Football League officials insist there is "no reason to start panicking yet" about the growing fixture backlog.

No matches were played on Sunday due to snow and ice and the previous weekend had also been badly hit because of waterlogged pitches.

League chairman Bill Tait said: "We are not in panic mode yet. We have got contingency measures we can fall back on such as playing double headers and we have also got a fairly big window at the end of the season when we can squeeze in extra games if necessary."

Mark Rogers, the league’s secretary and fixture secretary, said: "I have been fixture secretary for the past four years and on the league committee for another two years before that and this is the worst it’s been fixture-wise during that time.

"The problem has been compounded this year by the fact we have had a lot of rain in the last few weeks and then we had last week’s snow which meant all the water on the pitches froze hard.

"We had been hoping to get some matches played on the Minster College all-weather pitch but with three inches of snow lying on it on Sunday morning, it couldn’t be cleared in time. So that meant we had a total wipe-out and the biggest problem we’ve got at the moment are the outstanding cup games."

The Lynten Athletic versus Castle Tavern Senior Cup tie, already postponed on three previous occasions had been one of the games scheduled to be played at the college on Sunday and Mr Rogers added: "This situation is a nuisance and I’m starting to get a few clubs moaning about being behind with their fixtures.

"There’s not much I can do about the weather but providing we don’t have a bad January weather-wise, we should be okay.

"Because we have such a good relationship with Sittingbourne FC, where we play all our finals, we can get them put back a bit if necessary."

The league has also given clubs the option of playing this Sunday but Mr Rogers added: "I’m not expecting any clubs to want to play this weekend and that’s understandable because of Christmas."