THE venue for the first Lancashire verses Yorkshire cricket match has been trashed by thieves.

Two televisions, alcohol, confectionary and soft drinks were stolen from Whalley Cricket Club overnight on Tuesday, police said.

The bar was ransacked and further damage was caused to a fire door and an internal door.

Simon Ditchfield, vice-chairman of the Station Road club, said the site has been attacked several times in recent years.

He said: “It’s upsetting because the club is looked after by a band of volunteers who give up their own time for it.

“It is grief we do not need.

“The televisions are second hand and do not have any real monetary value, but they were donated to us by volunteers and now we will have to look for two more.

“It makes me think what is the point?

“No one here makes any money from what we do, we all have full time jobs and donate our time here for the love of cricket and to keep the club going.

“We’ve become a target for thieves.”

The first ‘Roses match’ was held in 1867 at the ground and was won by Yorkshire by five wickets.

The club is set to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the match later this year.

Richard Palmer, who has been chairman of the club for four years, said the damage will cost a few hundred pounds to repair.

He said: “People don’t care about who they hurt or what they do.

“They will steal from a group of volunteers like us or someone richer.

“The people have planned to take something and take it without caring about the consequences.

“We leave the till open and empty every night to prove there’s nothing there but they still turned it upside down.

“We will dust ourselves down and go again but it makes me very annoyed to think these people are still out there.”

A police spokesman said the cricket club was broken into between 9pm on Tuesday and 8am yesterday.

He said: “No one was injured during the incident and enquiries are still on going.

“No one has been arrested so far and we are urging people to come forward who have information about the crime.”

Anyone with information should call the police on 101 and quote crime number EG170 2893.