Northampton grassroots football club 'extremely frustrated' with off-road motorcyclists 'ruining' £3,000 pitches

An “extremely frustrated” grassroots football club in Northampton is calling for off-road motorcyclists to stop “ruining” their football pitches.

Thorplands Club 81 claims off-road dirt bikers have been damaging their football pitches at Round Spinney for more than a year now.

Gary Palmer, Thorplands Club 81 chairman, said: "The local community have reported this to the police on numerous occasions. We pay over £3,000 a year for the pitches to be maintained and it's just causing us a lot of hassle. It's extremely frustrating.

"There are concerns that the damage being caused to the pitches will end up injuring one of the kids. Coaches are having to get there two hours before the games to fill in any holes they have made to make it safe for the children. So it's cutting into their time. They're all volunteers."

Gary's wife tried to confront the dirt bikers last weekend (Sunday, October 24) but was met with hostility as one rider raced towards her to “intimidate” her. "We're a step away from naming them and confronting them," Gary added.

A Northamptonshire Police spokeswoman said they are aware and are working to put measures in place. The spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the motorcycle nuisance that has been taking place in this part of the town and are working with our partner agencies to put measures in place to tackle it, including procuring funding for cameras to capture these offences taking place.

“We do not underestimate the frustration this behaviour is causing to the local community and would encourage them to keep reporting incidents to us so that we can continue to deploy and hopefully identify the offenders.”

Police added that the operation to tackle the issue has been called Operation Wave.

In the Weston Favell area, councillor James Hill also said he has faced similar issues with motorcyclists. Councillor Hill said: “I was pleased to hear from our local Northamptonshire Police PCSO’s that police are working to address the ongoing issues with illegal off road motorcycle’s on the east side of Northampton.”