A FOOTBALL club is facing a major clean-up operation after caravans drove onto and ‘destroyed’ its pitches.

Nappies, litter and a car bumper were among items left on Barrow Celtic Junior Football Club’s Schneider Road site after travellers gained access to them on Friday.

Numerous caravans eventually left on Saturday night and according to councillor Bill McEwan they are now based near McBride’s soap factory after originally moving behind the Ormsgill community centre.

Club secretary Andrew Shipley went to examine the damage at the club on Sunday morning.

“They’ve left a lot of rubbish,” he said.

“There’s a front of a bumper, a lot of baby nappies, black bags.

“The minis’ pitch is in a dire state now, it will need a repair of some sort.

“Luckily, they were not there too long but we have the issue of the gate being broken.

“Hopefully they don’t come back.

"There’s no way of deterring them at the moment.”

It is not the first time this has happened to the football club, with caravans driving onto the pitches two years ago.

Mr Shipley will be discussing ways to prevent a similar situation happening again with Barrow Borough Council.

“It’s something myself and the council will need to look at,” he said.

“The simple option could be to put some boulders down at the very bottom to stop people coming on.

“But ultimately the council need to improve the gate facility.”

Cllr Bill McEwan, who represents Ormsgill, said: “We know the travellers are going to keep coming in and out of town.

“If they could get a place where it’s not affecting play areas or near houses.

“We know it causes problems because they leave a mess.

“We’ll have to be looking at ways we can manage them better.”

Due to the damage caused to the pitches, the club’s under seven and eight teams cannot play on the Schneider Road site.

Luckily, St James’ CofE School has offered the team use of its astroturf until repairs are completed.

Mr Shipley added: “The under sevens and eights will not be able to play on that pitch.

“We’ve been in touch with St James’ School. They have an astroturf pitch and they’ve kindly allowed us to book that on a Saturday morning so they can still play their fixtures.”