It would cost Carlisle United “hundreds of thousands” of pounds to instal an undersoil heating system, directors have said.

The Blues insist that existing pipes, installed many years ago beneath the Brunton Park pitch, cannot be used “in a cost-effective manner”.

Chief executive Nigel Clibbens instead said a complete overhaul would be needed to give United an effective undersoil heating system.

And that would come at a high cost, he said.

Clibbens made the comments in his monthly ‘club update’ in response to a supporter’s question.

It followed the recent postponement of the home game against Barrow because of a frozen pitch.

Asked how much it would cost to connect a boiler to the existing undersoil pipes and get the system working, Clibbens said: “It is not simply a matter of a boiler and connecting pipes to it.

“What was installed before is not capable of being resurrected in a cost-effective manner.

“A complete modern and efficient system (a pitch rebuild) would be needed.

“This depends on specification but would be hundreds of thousands – that is before the running costs.”

United have seen their last two games in League Two fall victim to frozen pitches – at home to Barrow last weekend and away to Northampton Town this weekend.

The games have been rearranged for January 31 and next Tuesday respectively.

The current undersoil pipes were installed in the summer of 2006, during a period when United were laying a new pitch after their promotion to League One.

They were laid by Cumbria-based Floorwarming UK, working alongside Story Construction and Eddie Stobart Ltd on the project.

But they have never been connected and used.