Vandals caused more than £200 in damages after smashing four plastic panels of a spectator stand at Sidmouth Football Club.

A club spokesman said they were ‘shocked and disappointed’ to discover the damage done to the shelter, at the Manstone Recreation Ground.

The incident took place between 7pm last night (Tuesday) and 3am this morning.

One of the panels had been cracked while the other three were smashed – it is thought they may have been punched in.

A club spokesman said they were now thinking about installing CCTV to stop such things happening in the future as well as considering to replace the cladding with a different, harder to break material.

He added something similar happened about a month ago but only one of the panels had been smashed so they presumed it was an accident and repaired it. One piece of cladding costs £50 - to repair it they will need to buy four and maybe pay for the installation.

He added: “It is senseless vandalism. We are shocked and disappointed by this latest incident especially when we are only trying to improve the facilities at the club for the benefit of the whole community.

“When I first saw it I was very disappointed and frustrated.

“People use that area to stay out of the rain… I don’t know what people get out of it.

“It is an unnecessary cost to the club – this money could be spent on other projects benefitting the club, its members and players.”

Any witnesses or anyone with information should call police on 101 quoting CR/053069/16 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.