A NEWPORT football club has become the latest sports team in the city to have its facilities destroyed by vandals.

Albion Rovers, whose home is at Kimberley Park, in Malpas, had its dug-outs and stand destroyed overnight on Saturday and Sunday, causing thousands of pounds' worth of damage.

Club chairman Terry Wilkins slammed the incident as "wanton destruction", but said he had not reported the latest incident to the police. He said: "What will happen if they are caught? They will just get a slap on the wrist and told to go. It is not the police's fault. It is just the way things are.

"If it was up to me I would make the parents of these kids pay for what their children have done. These curfews sound like a good idea to me. "What I don't understand is that there is nothing there for anyone to steal. It is just malicious and nonsensical.

"We are a local club, we don't get any lottery funding or anything like that, so we will have to find the money from somewhere else."

The club now faces a race against time to get the facilities back up to the Welsh League standards before the start of next season.

Welsh League secretary Karen Donovan said: "Unfortunately this is the type of thing we have to put up with.

"It is the third time it has happened. It is just heartbreaking to see people spending their free time and money, putting something back into the community of Malpas, and these young thugs just destroy it."

The attack comes just weeks after Newport Harriers had thousands of pounds' worth of equipment burnt out and its athletes attacked by youth gangs throwing stones.