A cricket club has been forced to turn to fundraising after its pitch was coated in oil by callous vandals.

About £2,000 of damage was caused when Newington Cricket Club in Bobbing, near Sittingbourne, was targeted overnight on Thursday.

Colin Creasy, social secretary at the club, explained: "Our groundsman noticed it yesterday morning as he was walking his dogs nearby.

"They have poured diesel on what you call the 'good length' where the ball lands so it looks like whoever did it knew what they were doing.

"It's a lot of diesel. It looks like it could have been two jerry cans so it seems targeted to some degree.

"We spend a couple of thousand every year on the pitch to keep it in a good condition and we literally finished paying for repairs for this year."

Those tasked with fixing the damage say it could take up to four months, which means the club will not be ready in time for the start of the season in April.

"We were ahead on our preparations because of the weather so for this to happen is devastating," Mr Creasy continued.

"Especially after Covid, it's a massive financial blow to the club.

"We have everything insured at the ground except the pitch so it's down to us to fund the repair works.

"This was going to be the first season that was not troubled by Covid regulations after a few years.

"For this to happen, it means we now need to look at rearranging games and a lot of things are up in the air."

As well as asking members to pay their fees early, the club has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for the repairs.

In just 24 hours, more than £2,000 was raised of the £2,000 target.

As well as donations, Mr Creasy is also urging anyone who lives nearby to help by checking CCTV footage for information that could help police with their investigations.

Kent Police say the incident happened between 4pm on Thursday and 8.30am the following day.

Enquiries into the incident are ongoing and anyone with information is urged to call 01795 419119 quoting reference 46/36667/22.

They can also call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or complete the form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.