VANDALS smashed their way in to Colne Cricket Club and ‘trashed’ it before stealing two flat screen TVs and cash.

A dog walker called the police on Friday morning after noticing that some of the club house windows were shattered.

Officers said inside, the club had been ransacked.

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The burglars had ripped a lottery machine from the wall as well as the two 52-inch televisions and a small amount of cash left behind the bar.

They also stole a new projector and several bottles of spirits from behind the bar, officers said.

Chairman of the club, Jane Williamson, said: “We had just recently obtained a grant for one of the windows that was smashed.

“They only made off with a small amount of cash taken but they’ve left us with about £2,200 lost in damages and goods.

“The committee are working really hard to keep the club going then we are faced with something like this. It’s soul destroying.”

This is the fourth time that the club has been broken into in the past 18 months.

The committee are now discussing whether or not to replace the televisions as they believe they may just get stolen again.

A committee member, Steve White, said: “It’s a sorry state of affairs when you think you have to give something up because people will only steal it.

“The committee is going to meet and discuss what can be done but it’s a shame. We’ve always tried to avoid putting metal shutters over the windows because people like to sit there and look out and enjoy the cricket but maybe we need to rethink.”

A Lancashire Police spokeswoman said officers were investigating the incident.

He said: “Unknown offenders have smashed their way into this club and made off with two televisions, a projector and bottles of whiskey as well as about £11 in cash.

“We believe that the break-in happened between 8pm on Thursday evening and 8.20am Friday morning.

“If anyone has any information whatsoever or saw anything suspicious around the Byron Road area, we would ask them to call 101 and quote EG1400607 as the crime reference number.”