Joyriders burn down rugby club

Club chairman Frank Parslow said: "I am so angry. It's just mindless vandalism. We know it's a rough area but if you can't take pleasure in something yourself, why destroy it for other people?"

The club, which has more than 50 members, is due to play its first game of the season next weekend but its committee are now frantically trying to make arrangements to make sure fixtures do not have to be cancelled.

"At the moment we have got no idea what we are going to do," added Mr Parslow. "I think we may have to find somewhere else to change for the next few weeks."

Councillor Becky Stewart, Hounslow's executive member for leisure, arrived in Feltham on Tuesday morning to find trees ripped up and portable toilets knocked down in Browell's Lane and the rugby club burnt out.

She said: "I can't believe that people can behave in this way. It's incredibly disheartening, when we are trying to make positive improvements to Hanworth Park.

"We recently identified extra funding to enhance the Park and are about to consult local people on what they would like to see in their parks and open spaces but acts of mindless vandalism such as this are a big setback for us and for those who regularly use the facilities."

The car used by the joyriders was a silver VW Polo with the licence plate X445 NKK, which was reported stolen from nearby Water Mill Way on July 13.

DI Alan Holford, of Hounslow Police, said: "I would appeal to anyone who has seen this vehicle or knows who may have been using it during the last six weeks to get in touch.
"This is much more than tomfoolery. It's gone from one person losing their car to an entire rugby club suffering a tremendous loss."

Anyone with information is asked to call Hounslow CID on 020 8247 6160 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.