Leicestershire have been deducted 16 County Championship points and fined £5,000 by the England and Wales Cricket Board for five incidents of dissent towards umpires or opposition.

The club, which is currently bottom of Division Two having won just two games this season, pleaded guilty to the charge at a Disciplinary Panel hearing at Lord's.

An ECB statement said: "The Panel took into account the guilty plea and the changes that have taken place at the club within the past year as well as the club's stated intention to improve their disciplinary situation.

"However they noted the overall seriousness of the five offences and felt that more substantial action should have been taken to address these issues at an earlier stage."

Leicestershire chief executive Wasim Khan accepted the charge, saying in a club statement: "Unfortunately there is no platform for us as a club to appeal any of the reported incidents. We have already put in place procedures relating to player education and will be talking to the Professional Cricketers Association as to what further programmes we can put into place.

"The players have a duty to behave on the field as well as off the field in a manner that the club expects and so this is simply not acceptable to us. Further discussions with regards to future behaviour and the repercussions will be outlined to players within the next 24 hours."

Leicestershire's next County Championship fixture at Northamptonshire will commence on Friday, August 21.