Sensor networks require scalable solutions to tackle huge number of sensor nodes. The scalable solutions have to be energy efficient and robust in order that reliability and network lifetime is increased. hierarchical (cluster based) models are known to be promising solutions to the problem of scalability. In this paper we propose a distributed clustering strategy which restricts the number of nodes in each cluster, S and also limits the number of next hop neighbours of a node in a cluster, D (admissible degree). The clustering algorithm is simulated and compared with two other clustering algorithms, HEED and LEACH. Simulation results depict that the energy drain in our algorithm is much lesser than the other two algorithms, thereby providing a longer lifetime when compared to the other algorithms. The proposed algorithm provides for almost 5 times increase in the lifetime of the network, when compared to the other two algorithms