A grassroots football club has spoken of its frustration after its pitches were trashed by vandals on quad bikes.

The damage to the playing surface at Lordswood Youth FC in Chatham was caused by yobs recklessly doing doughnuts overnight.

But their nighttime joyride could mean the pitches are now too dangerous to be used by the more than 200 young people who train at the club every week.

The deep ruts cut into the earth pose a danger to the children, aged between 6 and eighteen, running across the fields.

Lordswood Youth FC’s child welfare officer, Ashley Smith, told KentOnline: “They’re coming on their quad bikes and actually doughnuting on the pitches themselves, which is what is causing the problem.

“It’s absolutely destroying the areas on which they are doing it.

“They are creating huge ruts in the ground which makes it unsafe for the kids to play.

“Rolling ankles is the biggest concern, when they are running through it because the ground is uneven.”

The 37-year-old added: “We’re really lucky that because we look after our pitches, most of the time they are really really stunning but but when you’ve got this kind of thing happening it creates a real problem for the kids when they are playing football.

“We’ve got around 200 children using that pitch every weekend and the frustrating thing about the vandals is that they just don’t care.

“It is just so frustrating. I don’t want to ruin anyone's fun, I really don’t but by them doing what they are doing they are ruining the fun for the children of the club and from my perspective that is the biggest issue.”

Fortunately, there are no games scheduled for the Easter weekend but it will now be down to the club’s volunteers to try to repair the damage to ensure next week’s matches can go ahead.

The damage has been reported to police and the Lordswood Youth FC’s chairman is remaining in close contact with them while the issue is investigated.

Police have been contacted for comment.