A SCENE of complete devastation met members of the bowling committee when they returned to Leyland Motors Sports and Social Club after the Bank Holiday weekend.

Vandals had cut through fences, smashed windows and kicked in cupboards at the club.

And the green will have to be closed down for at least a month as it is not fit to be played on after the attack. The bowling section's committee chairman Alan Dawson said: "I can't understand this - it's just mindless.

"The bowling committee members are all volunteers and every time they go down the green something else has been damaged."

This is the second attack on the club in a fortnight. The green has only just been repaired after youngsters decided to use it as a football pitch.

Now, the 150 regular players will have to go elsewhere to play. But Mr Dawson added: "The green at Leyland but it will be too large for many older members to cope with."

Benches around the green were smashed, all the guttering was broken and wire netting over the pavilion windows was cut so the hooligans could smash the glass and break in.

They attacked cupboards containing club equipment, but as yet it is not known if anything was stolen. The first cancelled match was a Ladies' County Match against Cheshire which will have to be played at Longton.

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