Till, lottery machine and spirits stolen in Bridgnorth football club raid
Burglars smashed their way into a Bridgnorth football club and stole a till, lottery machine and spirits in a late-night raid.
AFC Bridgnorth's Crown Meadow social club in Orchard Drive was targeted last night, leaving volunteers 'demoralised'.
The lottery machine was only installed last week, and now the club has to regroup and try and get the place ready for several Christmas functions including a children's party, old people's bingo and a Christmas Eve mince pies and mulled wine evening.
Club secretary Steve Groome said: "There was forced entry through the front door. They've taken the till. A lottery machine was ripped off the wall.
"We had a game on Wednesday night. Normally the chairman takes the money to bank after the game but on this occasion he wasn't at the game. There's never usually money kept overnight at the club.
"We only put in the lottery machine last week. All the tickets have AFC Bridgnorth printed on them and it's all to raise money for the club.
"We've got a big party tomorrow night and now we've got no till.
CCTV
"It's demoralising. We're all volunteers and it's something for the community, so when someone comes and does it, it's out of order."
He added: We have a good CCTV system so hopefully we'll be able to see who it was.
"We will carry on regardless. We have to. We've got the old people's bingo tonight, which we don't make money from, it's just for the community.
"We can't even be specific on what time it happened at the moment. I left the club at 6pm last night and the chairman went down at 9.30am today. That's a big window of time, but hopefully the CCTV will narrow it down."
Chairman Mark Weale said: "I've spoken to the police and they've said no-one is coming out. I retired from the police in 2012. We would go out to every burglary.
"We've got the kids' Christmas party and another big function coming up. We've got to try and get this place back on its feet. It's just not fair."
A police spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that police are investigating. Our enquiries are on-going, any witnesses can ring West Mercia Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."
