MORE than 150 children have been affected by damage done to football pitches used by Burton Youth FC.

People drove over the field in Salisbury Road, Burton, leaving tyre tracks in the grass, making them “unplayable.”

Treasurer for the club, Paul Groves, said: “We had a phone call on Wednesday morning saying the pitches had been churned up.

“They got in through the farmers field over the back. Seven pitches were affected. Two are totally unplayable.

“It will cost us about £1,000 which is money we don’t have.”

The football club is entirely self-funded, and Mr Groves said they need approximately £20,000 a year to run.

“It is mindless,” he continued.

“It is somebody local, you would not know how to get to the field if you weren’t local.

“It had just destroyed the ground, they know kids play there. We are trying to raise funds for the carpark. We have 150 kids from six to 16. We don’t get funding from anywhere. This is really disappointing.

“They won’t be playing on the pitches this season. We have to get a big roller to start with, that is the only way we going to fix it.

“That is going to cost money to hire from somewhere. We are going to have to divert funds from the carpark for this.

“The estate agents have been very supportive, but they can’t control who goes on the field.

“We have 150 kids and we’ve had to rearrange stuff, it’s very disappointing.”

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: “We received a report of criminal damage to football pitches on Salisbury Road in Burton at 4.17pm on Wednesday 5 February 2020.

“Inquiries are ongoing. No arrests have been made.”