Youth football pitch damaged twice in three weeks

Littleport Rangers Football Club said tracks had been made across the whole of the under-7s pitch

A newly marked football pitch has been torn up just hours after a youth team played their first match.

Littleport Rangers Football Club in Cambridgeshire said it was the second incident in three weeks involving a vehicle being driven onto the field and digging up turf. Cambridgeshire Police said it was investigating the incidents.

The first incident cost the club about £400 in soil and grass seed to repair, with volunteers spending hours restoring the pitch.

"We keep our costs as low as possible, so we can be as inclusive as possible, but when instances like this happen, it has a knock-on effect," said Steven Grindy, vice chairman of the non-profit club.

Steven Grindy said the morning of 10 September they also discovered tyre marks on the field (pictured)

The latest damage forced the under-7s team to relocate. The under-17s had already moved to another pitch to allow the grass to recover from the first incident.

"We're only a small club and we're going to struggle to afford to have last night's work fixed," Mr Grindy said.

"They've done wheel spins and doughnuts and dug the grass up and made an absolute mess.

"It's really difficult, we're all volunteers, all we want is a safe place for the kids to enjoy. It's not only our kids, it's a public field."

The green space is used not only by the club but also by families, dog walkers, and kite flyers.

Mr Grindy said they were "quite secluded from houses" and believed the damage was caused overnight.

The club said police had been informed and they would ask the local council for fencing as a preventative measure.

"With Christmas coming up, we normally buy all the kids a little Christmas hamper, some chocolate or something," Mr Grindy said.

"If we've got to pay to repair this second lot of vandalism, we just physically won't have the funds for it. It's the knock-on effects behind the scenes that people don't see."

A spokesperson for the police said: "The incidents took place at the Sports and Leisure Centre on Camel Road, Littleport overnight on 9 and 27 September.

"On both occasions, a vehicle was driven onto the pitch causing significant damage to the grass surface and rendering parts of the pitch unusable for local teams."