Vandals on £10,000 wrecking spree
Reporter: DAWN MARSDEN
Date published: 01 September 2009

TRAIL of destruction . . . Anthony Pauls checks the damaged pitches which could take weeks and £10,000 to repair
MINDLESS vandals have destroyed a school football pitch just days before the new term starts.
The synthetic pitch at Breeze Hill School is also used by Oldham Community Leisure for sports activities in the evenings.
Yobs have pulled down the goal posts and ripped up huge sections of the pitch as well as the rubber underlay causing £10,000 of damage.
Pitch manager Anthony Pauls said: “It will take weeks to repair the damage caused as the pitch is totally unusable at the moment. Pupils at Breeze Hill School will not be able to use it when the new term starts and bookings taken through Oldham Community Leisure will have to be cancelled.
“We know that people come on to the pitch and use it for kickabouts during school holidays and that is fine as long as they respect it and leave it in the state they found it in - some people are clearly not doing that.
“It is completely senseless vandalism that affects so many people, we have regular incidents of vandalism but nothing this bad.
“It’s such a shame that a small group of yobs have spoiled things for a lot of people.”