A CRICKET club has been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after being raided just weeks before the new season starts.

Members of Daisy Hill Cricket Club in Westhoughton were left "angry and frustrated" after £1,000 in cash was taken.

The raiders also caused damage to the safe and the pool table, with Phil Andrews, secretary of the club, estimating the cost of repairs to scale into the thousands.

The break-in in the early hours of Tuesday came just four days after Edgworth Cricket Club was targeted in similar fashion.

It also took place on the same night that Westhoughton Conservative Club was targeted.

Some alarm sensors were stolen, which police believe was done with a view to returning later, but members noticed the theft and alerted police.

The burglary came after members had worked hard to decorate, clean and prepare the ground ahead of the new season.

Mr Andrews said: "It's almost exactly what happened at Edgworth.

"It is frustrating and we are angry because there has been so much hard work done over the last week getting ready for the season.

"They were clearly tooled up as they have crowbarred the pool table and taken an angle grinder to the safe.

"They have only been interested in cash. All our bottles of spirit bottles and drink was not taken."

The raiders even had the presence of mind to steal the DVD hard drive which contains the recordings from the club's CCTV cameras.

Officials from Westhoughton Conservative Club, in Tithe Barn Street, alerted the police to the incident there at about 2am.

It is not known whether the incident is linked to the cricket club raid.

Daisy Hill CC, which has more than 500 members, was also subject to an armed robbery in November 2013 when a man carrying a baseball bat threatened a lady behind the bar and stole cash.

Police said they were investigating both break-ins.