A FOOTBALL club is facing a bill of more than £1,000 after a car was driven across its playing pitches.

Cwmbran Celtic, who play their matches at Celtic Park, on Henllys Way, discovered the damage on Sunday morning.

Malcolm Jarrett, the project officer at the club, said it was the latest in a series of acts of anti-social behaviour and vandalism in recent years.

“The cost of repair is estimated to be over £1,000 and it’s frustrating above all else," he said.

He estimated that three to six inch gouges had been cut into the ground, making one of the playing surfaces too dangerous to play on.

Money will now be spent on protecting and repairing the pitches, which Mr Jarrett said could have been spent improving the facilities provided for teams ranging from under six age groups to seniors.

It follows an incident at pitches used by Cwmbran Town Youth AFC last week, when it is believed an off-road motorbike caused damaged – the second time within the space of a year.

“We want to get the problem out in the public domain may make people more vigilant and report this sort of behaviour," added Mr Jarrett.

“We don’t think it was a deliberate attack against sports clubs in the area, or our own club, but it seems that someone has thought they are Lewis Hamilton and decided to drive around our pitch."

Speaking about the damage caused to Penylan Fields, Coed Eva, on October 2, Mark Williams, the chairman of Cwmbran Town Youth AFC, said: “It’s just one of those things. We believe it is largely just the actions of kids. Fortunately, the incident does not seem to be as bad as first thought."

“I sympathise with Cwmbran Celtic. We have managed to put extra polls in place to stop cars getting onto the pitch, but it is more open at their ground,” he added.

Cwmbran Celtic have reported the incident to Gwent Police.

A force spokeswoman said: “We're appealing for information following damage being caused to Cwmbran Celtic Football Club's pitch on Henllys Way.

“A small hatchback vehicle was seen driving on the pitch at about 8pm on October 9, and approximately £1,000 worth of damage was caused.”

Gwent Police are appealing for anyone with information regarding the Cwmbran Celtic incident to call 101 quoting log 191 10/10/16.