A FOOTBALL club has become fed up with "mindless vandalism" on pitches after complaints of horse riders leaving behind hundreds of hoof holes.

Horwich RMI Junior Football Club has arrived at the fields by Rivington and Blackrod High School on several occasions this year and found it nearly unplayable due to the amount of holes in the ground.

Secretary Stewart Burke said the club was frustrated by the damage left behind and said there had been instances of horse riders accessing the field before.

He said: "Whoever takes horses onto that land is first and fore mostly trespassing. It is private land.

"We have offered support to the school in relation to some type of fencing to be installed in places.

"It is mindless vandalism of a local high school's active and heavily used sporting facilities."

It is the second time this year that the club has complained about the issue and Mr Burke has previously claimed that horse riders have plenty of space around Rivington to ride.

He said: "But they choose to ride purposefully over a playing field that is marked out with white lines and goalposts.

"It is not just us that uses it, it is the children at Rivington and Blackrod High School that use it. We just want them to stop doing this. It is damaging the pitches when there is no reason for it.

"There are plenty of other spaces to do horse riding around Rivington but they have decided to go on these fields, which are used by six teams.

"It just affects everybody and it is pointless."

According to Mr Burke, the fields are used regularly by six of the junior teams on weekends and training during the week.

Up to four teams could be playing on the fields at one time.

This is the latest in a long line of complaints from Horwich football clubs about the state of their pitches as a result of people gaining access to them without permission.

The opening of the new 3G pitch in Horwich was tarred with instances of littering, leading to calls from the clubs to keep the facility, which is open for public use, locked when it is not being used.

And there have also been incidents at the playing fields off Green Lane in Horwich, which is also used by Horwich RMI.

Towards the end of last year, two bikers were pictured riding across the pitches.

The incidents led to renewed calls to install fencing in order to keep vehicles off the land.