Vandals smashed through the roof of a pavilion at a recreational ground near Oswestry causing hundreds of pounds damage.

The roof at the pavilion at Weston Rhyn, home to the village’s football team, was damaged on Monday afternoon, before raiders jumped about 12ft into the building and made off with club footballs.

Club secretary Frank Griffiths said members were “devastated” by the attack, which has led officials to cancel this Saturday’s match against Prees.

Mr Griffiths said he was alerted to the damage by a witness who saw a gang of about four youths, jumping on top of the pavilion at about 3.30pm on Monday.

“They were apparently drinking and playing around on top of the pavilion”, he said. It’s sheer vandalism and we are all devastated about what has happened. During the past few years we had had attacks almost every day at the recreational ground but it had eased off recently.”

He added the vandals smashed several roof tiles before jumping about 4ft into the loft space and then breaking through the ceiling and jumping a further 12ft into the pavilion.

“They were probably messing around, had nothing better to do and saw the opportunity of trashing the place. It’s going to take a lot of work to get things sorted here.”

Mr Griffiths said that about 10 footballs were taken, including their match balls two of which were new, totalling about £125.

Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information on the incident to contact Oswestry Police Station on 08457 444 888.