A FOOTBALL club’s pitch in Malvern has been damaged for the second week running by motorcycle-riding vandals.

The pitch, belonging to Newtown Sports Junior FC, is between Greenhill Drive and Sling Lane in the centre of Malvern.

The vandals have now struck late on a Saturday evening for two weeks running, cutting up the turf by riding up and down and doing stunts.

Club chairman Rob Eyles said: “The most recent time was this Saturday.

“The worst areas are the centre circle and the goalmouth of the pitch used by the junior players, where it looks like they have been doing doughnuts.

“I don’t know when we will be able to get the damage repaired because at this time of year, the ground is often either too hard or too wet to do the job properly.

“The junior pitch is out of action, so the teams who normally play on that have had to play on a new pitch marked out on the main pitch, but that causes more wear and tear there, so it’s not a long-term solution.

“We haven’t had any cancelled matches, because we’ve been lucky that lots of these fixtures have been away matches.”

Mr Eyles urged local residents and those who walk on open land nearby to keep an eye out for disturbances.

He said: “If people see anything, I would urge them to call the police first and then call the club, but I would urge them not to go and confront them directly. That’s a job for the police.”

Mr Eyles said he did not yet know how much it will cost to fix the damage to the pitch.

Newtown Sports Junior FC has been around for nearly 30 years and is Malvern’s biggest charter-standard community club.

Its programs are designed to support children in learning to love the sport of football and to develop positive self-esteem along with a basis for future success in life.

The club moved to its current home in 2015. Malvern Hills District Council invested £55,000, with £25,000 coming from Newtown Sports.

Another £6,000 was made available from money linked to planning agreements and the council then worked to secure £325,000 from Sport England and the Football Foundation.

There is now one senior pitch, one junior pitch and two mini pitches. along with changing rooms with equipment storage and a kitchen.

There is also dedicated car parking to remove congestion from residential streets.

Police are investigating the incidents and want anyone with any information about them to call them on 101, quoting incident number 617s/020219.

For updates on the police investigation, see worcesternews.co.uk and malverngazette.co.uk