A FOOTBALL club in Flintshire has been forced to fork out thousands of pounds to repair damage caused by vandals in the last few years.

Saltney Town FC has had to pay £3,000 on repair works following damage caused by vandals - and had further vandalism to their changing rooms last Wednesday.

The damage includes 14 seats of the club's 50 seater stand being ripped out, fire damage, smashed windows at their changing rooms and damage to dugouts.

The club has suffered over two dozen instances over the last two years, and reached the point of nearly going out of existence last year due to the money the club has had to spend on repairing damage.

Following the latest incident, which involved vandals targeting the changing rooms, club chairman Darren Meredith has given a stark outlook to the cost to the club.

He said: "We've had to spend £3,000 in the last three years on repair works following damage by vandals - money which could and should have been spent on new things for the club and our junior teams.

"As well as the money spent on repairing damage, I'd say it's about £2,000 also spent on replacing stolen equipment.

"We're at a level of football now where we're being asked to make alterations to the ground - we need money for that and it's being spent on repairing the work done by mindless vandals.

"We have a 50 seater and now only have 36 left. To play in the Welsh National League Premier Division we need the 50 seats - these are the regulations."

Cllr Veronica Gay, club president, has called for CCTV installation at the changing rooms of the club's ground on Sandy Lane.

She said: "It's clear this issue isn't going away, the only way of deterring vandals and catching them is via CCTV."

It was approved at Saltney Town Council's July meeting to purchase a further two CCTV cameras, but as yet it has not been stipulated where they will be installed.