Blackburn vandals who caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to kids football pitch have quad bike seized

At the beginning of May mindless vandals caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to a children's football pitch belonging to Mill Hill Juniors FC, located on Green Lane in Blackburn.

Several youngsters were spotted on the pitch and were caught on CCTV, with officials for the club saying the youths entered the pitch on a quad bike and began ripping up the ground, creating tyre marks in the grass.

On Wednesday, officers from Blackburn's South West neighbourhood policing team seized an off-road quad bike which they believed was responsible for the damage.

Quad bike vandals cause thousands of pounds worth of damage to Mill Hill Juniors football pitch

A spokesperson for the police said: "This bike had been involved in causing damage to local football fields off Green Lane which Mill Hill Juniors utilise.

The damage done to the pitch by the quad bike

"We hope that this sends a message to others, that riding these off-road bikes will ultimately end up one way, and that's on the back of a recovery truck.

"We were only able to locate this bike with the help of our local community.

"If you have any information on motorbike nuisance you can visit orlo.uk/nhHkP

At the time of the incident, club chairman, Nathan Ince-Sargeson, said the club spends around £15,000 a year on maintaining the pitch in order to give the kids in the area the best possible venue to play and train at and believed the damage would cost in the region of £2,000 to repair.