BLACKBURN bowlers have slammed vandals who’ve left them out of pocket by wrecking their pristine green.

Officials from the Corporation Park Bowling Association are furious after finding a group of youths playing football on their prized turf on Tuesday evening.

MORE TOP STORIES:

To make matters worse, the interlopers were wearing studded boots which chewed up the surface – leaving it unplayable for the crown green enthusiasts.

John Flannery, chairman of the club which has around 70 members, said: “One of our teams found a group of youths playing football on our main green and chased them off after getting verbally abused.

“They have all of the park and their own pitches to play on, but they come onto our part.

“It would be bad enough if they were wearing trainers, but they had studded boots.

“It’s like a manicured surface and they just want to play on it.

“When we’ve caught them in the past we have told them there are cameras and signs in place warning that no other game but bowls can be played on the greens, but they take no notice.”

The facility is self-managed, meaning the club must pay around £3,000 a year for upkeep.

Any damage incurs further costs.

John added: “ We only get so much money in grants from the council and that’s all spent for the year.

“There is fencing up, but they only find a gap and get through - we’re getting a bit cheesed off.”

Deputy mayor, Cllr Hussain Akhtar, who met club officials last year about vandalism problems, has appealed to the local community to respect all users of Corporation Park.

He said: “ I want everyone to use the facilities, but they must respect others.

“We need to work together as a community. Behaviour like this achieves nothing.”

Police said they had been made aware of the incident.