AROUND 16 football players and match officials had personal belongings - including wallets, keys and mobile phones - stolen from locked changing rooms on Saturday afternoon.

Govilon's Gwent Central League fixture with Usk Town, at Bailey Park in Abergavenny, was marred when players returned to the changing rooms, some 300 yards from the pitch, after the match to discover thieves had broken in through a rear window and ransacked the building.

Govilon FC manager Steve Morgan explained: "The changing rooms were locked but they got in through a Perspex window at the back. We have big locked gates at the front but just the small window at the back. A lot of our boys had to have cars towed away or the locks changed on their homes afterwards, at great expense to them obviously."

One of the victims, a serving CID police officer, said: "I had a considerable amount of money taken as well as my car keys, a brand new pair of football boots and my police card. We came back at 5pm after the game and found everything all over the floor. The police were called 15 or 20 minutes later."

The CID added: "They evidently squeezed through a two foot gap between the back of the building and the wall, then walked along the wall and removed the window - which is only about two feet square. They've then ransacked the changing rooms and probably left through a fire exit." Andy Charles, Crime and Disorder Reduction officer at Abergavenny police said: "A lot of innocent people have been affected and we hope for a quick conclusion."

Witnesses who may have seen any suspicious at Bailey Park between 3pm and 5pm on Saturday should call Abergavenny Police on 01873 852273