MALMESBURY Tennis Club has been left angry and frustrated after mindless vandals broke into their clubhouse and caused damage leaving the place trashed.

The Malmesbury Tennis Club, Tetbury Hill, was broken into over the Easter bank holiday.

Players were greeted with a knife that had been stabbed into the table, and beer bottles were strewn around.

Fire extinguishers had also be set off, overnight on Sunday into Monday morning.

Jo Kitching, chair of Malmesbury tennis club said: “This has happened before and it is just pure vandalism.

“A couple of players went down on Monday and saw that the door was open, a knife had been stabbed into a table damaging it. Beer bottles had been thrown everywhere and fire extinguishers have been set off.

“We have reported it to police but they said there isn’t much they can do as there is no evidence.We are going to be setting up CCTV but because the door was broken and a window forced.”

The club is located at the end of a private lane in an isolated location. Jo feels the culprits are probably locals who know the area.

"We will definitely be enhancing security,"she said, "it's so annoying as they showed a lack of respect for the property and simply caused mindless damage for no reason."

The club house dates back decades and she said its charms were part of the character of the club.

Not to be deterred the club is staging an open day Sunday, May 12 with free coaching and tennis for those interested in joining. The event runs from 10am to lunchtime and will feature sessions for adults, coaching for teenagers and children and even a game of mini tennis for younger children. There's also coaching for children and even Cardio Drill sessions for adults which is a chance to work on different areas of the game. Details at https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/MalmesburyLawnTennisClub