Spectators watching youth football will have a new place to shelter from the sun and rain after Otter Garden Centre donated a summer house to the club.

Members of the youth football club approached the family-run business for help to repair their shed, which was leaking badly and ‘unfit for purpose’.

Upon looking at the condition of the shed, the team at the garden centre decided they would donate a new summer house with a covered lean-to to provide parents with somewhere to stand and cheer the youngsters on from the side line.

Sabine Taylor from Otter Garden Centres said: “After looking at the very old building that they had, it became clear that all efforts to repair this building would still result in a rather bleak, dark, old shed for parents to stand in.”

The summerhouse also provides a covered patio area for a barbecue to be set up for players and supporters to enjoy refreshments and food after the match.

The centre said the summerhouse would add a bit of fun for the club and could enable it to raise extra money by selling food and rinks to visiting parents and teams.

To celebrate the handover, the under 13 side took on a team from Ottery Garden Centre in a friendly football game, resulting in a garden centre win.

Sabine added: “Ottery under 13 football teams were a delight to play football against – they were very kind to us as the visiting team.

Team Otter all came away so impressed with the level of football they played and their conduct on the pitch, as they showed that you could be both good at football and be a credit to the sport and your community.

“We are so pleased to have supported the youth teams and we hope we might be able to arrange an annual match so that we can keep in touch with the teams and help them where we can in the future.

“It’s so good for young people to get outside and play sport and Ottery Football club gives the youngsters a great opportunity to do this.”