AN act of ‘wanton vandalism’ has left a junior football club in Otley reeling.

Weston Lane Juniors Sports and Social Club’s training area is unusable after a car repeatedly drove over it, cutting deep ruts all over the grass.

The incident happened at the Weston Drive site between 10pm and 11pm last Wednesday.

The police were called out to a confusing scene - with one-four-wheel-drive vehicle still on the boggy field, in need of help, which apparently had been flagged down to tow out another car.

The driver of the first car, believed to have caused the damage, fled after it was pulled out.

Club coach Bhupendra Patel had to cancel all of Saturday’s training sessions and is now searching for alternative sites.

The attack thankfully missed the playing pitch itself - unlike a similar incident that rocked the club four years ago. But Mr Patel is deeply shocked that a community-focused facility has been targeted again.

He said: “I just don’t understand why they did this - children use these fields.

“Weston Lane Juniors has been in existence since 1957 and we are all volunteers who run it for the children, so for some mindless people to do something like this, again, is very disappointing.

“The one lucky thing was that they missed the pitch, but we’ve lost our training area which is used by four teams.

“I hope they find and punish the person responsible to deter others from doing this.”

Inspector Richard Coldwell, who heads the Outer North West Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We found a Jeep stuck on the grass whose driver said he had been flagged down to help a car that had got stuck on there, and that first car has driven off after it got pulled out.

“If anyone knows anything about the first car or its driver, who we would like to speak to in connection with causing criminal damage, we would ask them to contact us by calling 101.”

Insp Coldwell will attend a meeting this week with Leeds City Council officers and local councillors to discuss ways of preventing further vandalism.

Councillor Sandy Lay (Lib Dem, Otley & Yeadon), who organised the meeting, said: “In many parts of the city boulders and grass mounds are used to stop vehicles entering fields. Hopefully we can get agreement and then the funding for the same.”

Otley Town Council leader Councillor John Eveleigh (Lab, Ashfield) added: “I’m pleased the city council are going to look at restoring the pitches and adding some form of physical barrier.

“This is not the first time this has happened and it is very dispiriting for the club’s officers who have worked so hard to keep it going.”

The clubhouse suffered an arson attack in 2000 which caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.