A new lawn mower worth £6,000 has been stolen in a raid on a village bowls club.

It was taken after thieves broke into a store at the Chislet Colliery Welfare Association Bowls Club on Hersden recreation ground.

The Allett 24-inch cut mower is a professional piece of machinery, especially used by lawn sports clubs, like cricket, bowls, tennis and croquet.

It had only been acquired a few weeks ago by the committee before thieves prised open steel plating on the store door to get at it.

They also took strimmers are other equipment and gained access to the clubhouse and stole alcohol. The total lost is estimated at £10,000.

Club honorary secretary Dave Cowley said members were angry and dismayed by the break-in.

"It's an expensive bit of kit and a big loss to us and everyone is cheesed off about it," he said.

The break in took place on the night of Saturday, April 13 and was discovered the following morning.

He believes the thieves knew what they were after and even took the club's CCTV cameras and recording equipment so there was no visual evidence of them

"We thought we had some pretty good security in place but will have to beef it up even more now. But what ever you do, if someone is determined enough they will find a way."

Mr Cowley says the lawn mower is a specialist machine which the club need to keep its greens in tip top playing condition.

"It's not the sort of thing that will turn up at a boot fair so we would ask other clubs to be wary if they are offered a mower like this, " he said

"Obviously, we are insured and will be able to replace it but it's still very annoying."

Anyone with information about the break-in or knows the whereabouts of the mower can call police on 01843 222289 quoting 46/71841/19.