Children's football games postponed after "senseless" vandals rip up Leyland pitches with motorbikes

Hundreds of children have seen their football games postponed after "mindless and senseless" vandalism of pitches.

Between the hours of 1pm on Friday, February 23 and 6pm on Saturday, February 24, the pitches of Leyland Albion in Centurion Way, Farington, were significantly damaged by what appears to be motorbike tyres.

This caused league games to be postponed on Sunday and future games put in jeopardy. The club has now appealed for witnesses to come forward, and for assistance from the local community.

This is why children's football matches are being cancelled in Bamber Bridge

The club is run by volunteers on a non-profit basis, providing community football for youngers in the area. A club statement said: "Ultimately, hundreds of children in our community are directly affected by this pitch being out of action. We have had reports of motorbikes in the area and there is CCTV, which is being checked."

They added: "As you can imagine, this will now cost the club a significant amount of time, money and effort to repair the pitch and get it back ready to host children’s football games, which is our main priority as a volunteer-led grassroots football club. Any information or assistance that could be provided, which would prevent an incident like this from occurring again would be greatly appreciated."

Can you help?

The club appealed for people to contact them or the police, quoting crime reference number LANCSPE-121922. Contact the club on social media, by emailing: [email protected], or by approaching a club/committee member.

Lancashire Police have been contacted for a repsonse.