A last gasp fundraising effort from a junior football team has helped ensure their new season kicks off on time.

Members of South Darenth junior football club feared the worst when returning after the summer recess to find their goal posts and nets smashed up.

Vandals broke into their ground in Horton Road, Dartford over the Bank Holiday weekend last month and caused £1,500 worth of damage to sports equipment.

Determined not to let the break-in stop the start of the new season the boys organised a fun run through South Darenth Village on the morning of Saturday 7 September to raise the money.

The club now has six sides ranging from the under sevens to a seniors side who play in the North Kent league.

Boys from the under seven, nine and 11 teams were joined by parents, coaches and friends to complete the run through the village.

They all sported the team's signature purple strip with some opting for leg warmers and silly wigs as they raced past the The Queen pub and over the River Darent before returning to their Heathside ground.

The team posted their appeal on Facebook with the hashtag #southdarenthcommunity.

A JustGiving page which was launched to coincide with the event has now raised more than £1,500, surpassing the total required.

All the money raised will now go towards replacing the broken equipment, explains the club's secretary and coach, Robert Divers.

He said: "Sadly this isn't the first time this has happened.

"We get a lot of vandalism as we don't have any storage facilities on site and can only chain them up.

"There is lots of broken glass on our pitches and drug paraphernalia is also a big problem."

He says the council has since got in touch and agreed to provide some facilities for the goals to be stored when not in use in the future.

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