POLICE have been forced to increase their patrols at a cricket club due to ongoing anti-social behaviour, the club president has said.

Roland Revell, president of Hadleigh and Thundersley Cricket Club, in John Burrows Park, Rectory Road, said the cricket club has been targeted on a number of occasions by vandals in the past few years.

Sadly, he thinks the club is no longer as well respected as it once was by members of the community and this has caused the vandalism.

Mr Revell said: “We would like to think people would show us more respect, but I do not think younger people especially now have too much interest in cricket as a sport.

“It is very disappointing, I know that this side screen is old but it is just another thing that has happened over this period of time.

“We seem to have a lot of vandalism and destruction.

“We often have youngsters over here being silly on the pitches, which is harmless but other things have happened too.

“The police have increased the amount of time they are giving to patrol this area as it has become a major issue for us.”

In the most recent incident, on Saturday, a sight screen - used to help the batsman see the ball when it is bowled - had the wooden slats ripped out and set alight, along with a pile of waste.

Corrine Wright, a resident near to the ground who witnessed the aftermath of the vandalism, said: “Yet again Hadleigh and Thundersley Cricket Club has been victims of vandalism.

“They lit this fire under a tree. This thoughtless act could have turned into an inferno.”

Roland Revell, club president, is sure the incident was caused deliberately.

He said: “The people appeared to take the wooden panels off the side screen.

“I do know when the fire actually was yet but we think it happened in the middle of the night, Saturday. It is an old screen that we normally keep on the back pitch, and we bought new ones last year.

“The new screens we bought were £3,500, they were built by two guys who play at the club.

“It is a huge shame for us that this has had to happen.”

Sergeant Mark McQuade, of Castle Point and Rochford Community Policing Team, said:

“We are working with the local Community Safety Partnership to deter anti-social behaviour in the area of John H. Burrows Recreational Park.

“Our Community Policing Team is carrying out additional patrols following an increase in reports of anti-social behaviour, criminal damage and arson in the area over the past six weeks.

“I am in contact with the Hadleigh and Thundersley Cricket Club regarding these issues and we are working together to reduce the risk of reoffending and my team are continuing to search for those responsible for these offences.

“If you have any information about anti-social or criminal behaviour in this area, please call 101 and ask to speak to the Castle Point Community Policing Team.”