Leeds golf club facing closure over repeated vandalism

"To come and find this it's devastating", a club spokesperson said

A golf course in Leeds may be forced to close after its greens were torn up by vandals, leaving members "devastated".

Gotts Park Golf Club in Armley, which is mostly run by volunteers, has been the site of repeated anti-social behaviour over the past two years.

At the weekend its greens were damaged by people riding electric bikes, the club said.

Karon Bickers, a volunteer board member, said it was not financially viable to keep making repairs.

"If the club goes this fantastic green area will just become overgrown, a no man's land," Ms Bickers said

Ms Bickers said members had put their "heart and soul" into trying to keep the club going and to see the latest damage was "soul destroying, heartbreaking."

"We all work hard and put our own time and effort in," she said.

"We're struggling hand-to-mouth as it is, without having to deal with this."

West Yorkshire Police confirmed they had investigated previous incidents of vandalism at the club where quad bikes were ridden on the course leaving greens damaged.

Volunteers took over the running of the 90-year-old club about six years ago, when one of the plans the council had was "to turn the land into a wildflower meadow", Ms Bickers said.

At that time the club employed about seven staff to maintain the greens but they were now looked after by two people, with the club run on a "shoestring" budget, Ms Bickers said.

Members said vandalism and anti-social behaviour had been taking place at the club over the last two years

Speaking about the damage caused at the weekend , Ms Bickers said: "Tyres have actually dug through the green leaving a significant amount of ruts.

"They've obviously done what they call 'donuts', they've gone round and round and round."

"If this was to continue I'm 100% confident we would not be able to go on, because we just would not have the money to be able to sort it out."