THIEVES struck twice in five days to steal valuables from a Reedley sports club.

Players’ and supporters’ cars were broken into at Belvedere and Calder Vale Sports Club, in Holden Road, on Sunday morning.

Days earlier the venue’s changing rooms were raided during a training session.

Officials said it was the worst crime the multi-sport site, which hosts Burnley Rugby Club, Burnley Belvedere Football Club and Burnley Belvedere Cricket Club, had ever seen.

Players and supporters had left their cars at the club before boarding coaches on Saturday morning to head to Wilmslow to watch the rugby club 2nd XI’s Raging Bull Shield Final.

Mick Ennis, club secretary, said: “We had more than 100 supporters travel on two coaches to Cheshire for the rugby final and a lot of them left their cars here so they could have a drink.

“We’ve had the odd car broken into before but nothing to this extent.

“They appear to have targeted the less expensive cars, perhaps the ones they thought wouldn’t have alarms.

“Our groundsman arrived on Sunday morning and 13 of the cars had been targeted. There was glass everywhere from broken windows.

“The police were here straight away. There were a lot of unhappy faces when the owners discovered what happened.

“They feel violated.”

In the other, unrelated, incident, Mr Ennis believes someone with a ‘good knowledge of the club’ was responsible for stealing mobile phones, cash, credit cards and wedding rings from the football changing rooms.

He said: “It was a very busy night on Wednesday with rugby and junior training sessions.

“It’s extremely upsetting for the club to be targeted like this.”