ROMSEY community leaders have hit out at a group of offenders after part of a tennis club was vandalised.
The gang of hooligans damaged fencing surrounding the courts at Romsey & Abbey Tennis Club, Southampton Road, which could cost £1,000 to repair.
It is believed the group cut the fencing in three places, measuring three feet hight, sometime between Monday, June 1, and Tuesday, June 2.
Cllr Nik Daas, who represents Romsey Abbey on the borough council, said: "This is a truly needless act that has targeted one of the few leisure activities we are currently allowed to use.
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"I am already working with Romsey police to support them to catch those who did this and with the tennis club to get the courts fixed and operational for residents to get back playing."
Cllr Dorothy Baverstock, who represents Romsey Cupernham on the borough council, said: "I am just horrified, it is wanton vandalism and it affects the club who now have to find the money to repair all of the damage.
"As a councillor I have spent a lot of my life looking at vandalism and if it were not for these people we could provide so many more things for everyone in the community.
"I have spoken to people in the tennis club and they have got so many plans to do improvements, so it is like taking one step forward and five steps back when you have to repair and replace things."
She added: "I feel very sad there are still people who do not think about what they are doing and the impact they have on these facilities.
"The tennis courts in the War Memorial Park also used to be locked and people would come and break the fencing all of the time, which was appalling."
Club chairman for Romsey & Abbey Tennis Club, Patrick Fuller, said: "The fencing around the courts was damaged between Monday night or early Tuesday morning.
"The damage, expected to cost around £1,000 to repair, has been reported to the police."
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A spokesperson from Hampshire police said the crime "was reported to us by a worker at the club that the fence had been cut in three places around the tennis courts".
They added: "It was cut from the ground to a height of around three feet and it’s not known why.
"It happened sometime between 9pm on the 1st June and 7.45am on the 2nd June.
"We’d also ask anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area around that time or has any information about the crime to call us on 101 quoting 44200197698."
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