A football ref was holed up in his changing rooms after handing out a record-breaking six red cards in 35 minutes.

Dan Austin reduced the Worthing against Chipstead clash to eight against eight after issuing marching orders to six players for separate offences.

The tally - six reds and eight yellows - is believed to be an FA record, although it remains well behind the 20 reds dished out in a South American game.

The men to depart were Stuart Axten, Scott Kirkwood and debutant Andy Pearson for Worthing plus Chipstead trio Nathan Campbell, Chris Head and Jamie Findley.

Rebels boss Danny Bloor said: “Rules are rules but nobody wants to see a game of eight versus eight. We could end up in the Guinness Book of Records.

“I am 38, I first started playing for Hove Park Colts at the age of seven and I have never seen this before.

“The sad thing is there wasn't a dirty tackle in the game.

“He was applying the letter of law 150 per cent - refs need to manage a game with some common sense.”

The first dismissal on Saturday came on 59 minutes when Chipstead’s Nathan Campbell blocked the ball with his hand on the line.

Then the Surrey outfit’s Chris Head was sent for an early bath for a second bookable offence.

Worthing followed this with two reds in as many minutes-ñ Stuart Axten, who blocked an opponent and was deemed the last defender despite being close to the centre circle and Kirkwood, who was shown a second yellow.

In the first-minute of injury time Chipstead’s Jamie Findley was dismissed for a nasty-looking tackle.

And in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Worthing’s Andy Pearson was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box and saw red.

Derek Parsons, Chipstead secretary, said the referee was being assessed that day and was not hiding in the changing rooms.

He added: “It was a quite remarkable game but the ref was applying the letter of the law.

“There was no bad feeling and everyone shook hands with each other afterwards, including the referee.

“I think a few of the players thanked him for keeping them on the pitch.”

Mr Austin was unavailable for comment.

Seeing red: -Three league games have seen five players sent off. Chesterfield against Plymouth and Bristol Rovers against Wigan Athletic in 1997 and Exeter against Cambridge United in 2002.

-When two players were sent off in the Sportivo Ameliano versus General Caballero game in Paraguay, a 10-minute fight ensued and the referee dismissed a further 18 players. The match was abandoned.