A LOCAL football club owner is appealing for information after thieves broke in and stole £500 worth of tools last week.
Peter Goodlad, owner of Athersley Rec, was shocked to find the four containers at the ground, two of which hold expensive tools and equipment, were broken into on Friday night - which resulted in a new strimmer being stolen.
The 63-year-old, of Ollerton Road in Athersley, is one of the founders of the club which began in 1979 but admits that lockdown had the potential to be the most turbulent time since the club began.
He said: “I locked up the containers on Friday night like usual, but when I came to the site on Saturday there were padlocks on the ground so it was obvious that something had happened.
“I had a quick browse around and then when I got to the fourth container, which is where the expensive tools are, I took a look inside to see what had been stolen.
“At first it looked as though there wasn’t anything missing, but as I went further in I realised that one of our new strimmers had been stolen which was worth about £500.”
The club has been fundraising since lockdown began as due to the cancellation of the football season, the club has lost approximately £30,000 in revenue - something which the local community has been a great help with.
“Most of the community has been fantastic with all their help, I’ve been blown away with the support but there’s always a couple of people like this that steal from us and it’s a disgrace,” he added.
“We’ve obviously had bills that we’ve had to pay and everyone’s been helping us out with them, the fundraising we’ve been doing has been a great success.
“I’m annoyed about the damage, and I’ve been told that the incident occurred at around 7.15pm, so they must have some cheek to do this in broad daylight.”
If you have any information about the stolen goods, contact Peter or the police on 101.
