Deal Town FC have been “let down” by police after young vandals trashed the ground and broke the youth teams’ goals, says a club director.

Treasurer Gareth Fowler spoke out after the club suffered hundreds of pounds of damage on Monday night last week.

The next day he caught three boys trespassing at the ground – but says he had to wait two hours with the children for the police.

“All the police did when they got here was give the boys a lift home,” said Mr Fowler. “The kids were right: they kept saying ‘You may as well let us go because you can’t prove anything.’"

He added: “When the police did turn up they said the same thing.”

Although they used the same method of entry, there was no proof that the three discovered on Tuesday were the same three who caused the damage.

The posts were new at the start of the season, and should have lasted five years at least.

Organisers of the three youth teams have managed to straighten them and temporarily fix the posts after forking out on new materials.

They were in use again on Saturday when the players had two games. But it is expected the goals won’t last as long as they would usually.

Other mindless damage on the night included a smashed up table and broken bins and the yobs emptied a drum of used cooking oil – all of which had to be cleaned up by the club.

"I feel we've been let down. I won't bother phoning the police again" Gareth Fowler, Deal Town FC

He suggested officers fingerprint the damaged goal posts and inspect the tread marks in the mud but he believes they did not.

“I feel we’ve been let down,” added Mr Fowler.

“I said I wouldn’t bother phoning the police again.

“When you find people breaking into your property at 2pm, you don’t expect to have to wait until 4pm for the police," he added.

Kent Police spokeswoman Jane Walker said: "The call from the football club that three boys had been caught trespassing was received at 2.30pm.

"Due to call demand at the time, including responding to two emergency calls in the Dover district in which there was a threat of violence, officers attended the football club at 4pm.

"It is correct to say that at the current time there is no evidence to state that the boys caught trespassing were responsible for the damage to the goal posts the previous day and they deny damaging the club equipment."

She added: "They were taken home by officers so that those responsible could be advised that the boys had been caught trespassing on private land and also to check their alibis for where they had been the previous day when the goal posts were damaged.

"If there are any further lines of inquiry or information from any witnesses this will be followed up," she said.