Car damage halts football on largest village green

Great Bentley Youth chairman Alex Jones discovered the damage on Sunday morning

Football matches on England's largest traditional village green were cancelled after it was damaged by a car.

The criminal cruising in Great Bentley, Essex, left about 100 youngsters unable to play their games on Sunday.

Alex Jones, chairman of Great Bentley Youth FC, said families were "absolutely gutted" by the act, which trashed two pitches.

Police have been reviewing CCTV footage of the incident shared by people living nearby.

The unique 43-acre (17-ha) village green is overlooked by a pub and is also used for cricket and community events.

Mr Jones said he was "absolutely gutted" to see it had been damaged when he arrived for a pitch inspection at 06:45 GMT.

Mr Jones said the "massive divots" were a safety risk to players

"There were 100-odd kids who missed out on playing football," Mr Jones said.

"It's just not fair. There's no reason to do it, there's no justification."

Parents flooded Mr Jones with messages after their children were left distraught by the incident.

But he insisted the "massive divots" left behind posed a safety risk to the players.

Other football clubs have offered to let Great Bentley use their pitches while repairs are undertaken over several weeks.

Mr Jones hoped the CCTV footage would lead police to those responsible.

"You can see the [car] lights going around the green, doing whatever it's doing to tear the grass up," he added.

An Essex Police spokeswoman said officers were investigating reports of criminal damage "in the early hours" of Sunday morning.

"If you have any information, CCTV, dash cam or other footage in relation to this incident, then please get in contact with us," she added.