A TEAM in the Royston Crow youth football league has had to postpone matches at their home ground for up to a month after their pitch was vandalised.

Hormead Hares, based in Hormead near Buntingford, had their full-sized and two mini-soccer grass pitches driven over by a vehicle last Tuesday evening (October 26), ruining the surface and making it too dangerous to play on.

They had to frantically rearrange the four matches scheduled to take place on the pitch, known as The Mead, this weekend and will have to go without home advantage for the next few weeks too.

A club spokesman said: “Someone basically used the pitches as a race track, and this has resulted in damage. They have all been ruined, and the repair date is out of our hands.

“We have had to rearrange fixtures, and the children, who so look forward to playing down here, almost had their weekend completely ruined.”

The spokesman speculated that the damage may have been made by a 4x4 vehicle.

Hormead Hares run an academy for five year olds, mini-soccer teams aged between seven and nine, boys’ 11-a-side teams aged between 11 and 17, three nine-a-side girls teams aged between 11 and 16, and an open-aged ladies team.

The spokesman said: “The under 16 girls’ had to travel to Kings Lynn, the under 14 boys had to go to Sawbridgeworth, and the under seven boys had to go to Stevenage.

“All should have been at home. The academy had to find somewhere else to train too. All should have been held at The Mead.”

The vandalism comes a few weeks after a tractor at The Mead was filled with water, costing Hormead parish council �782 to repair.

If anyone has any information about how the vandalism, please call Buntingford Police Station on 0845 330 0222.