Football club's plea to rogue horse riders

Members of Layton Juniors FC were dismayed to find all six of their playing fields covered in the eight-inch deep prints when they arrived for their weekend game at Moor Park playing fields off Low Moor Road last Saturday.

Now they are able to play once again after filling in the dangerous holes with sand.

But club chairman Steven Smith says horses galloping across the fields is a problem that happens every winter – and that even more hoof prints had been added to the pitch since last weekend.

He said: “You can’t miss them. The game had to be called off last weekend because the pitch was just unusable.

“It has a knock-on effect. Our players are young kids and they come here every weekend in their football kits and they’re all excited to play and then the match gets called off.

“It’s very disappointing for them.

“At the end of the day we are all volunteers and we’re having to spend our Saturday mornings filling in holes, and we shouldn’t have to do that.

“It takes a lot of time and effort.

“You can see them galloping up and down the pitch and there’s nothing you can do.

“There were even more horse hoof prints going down the side of the pitch on Saturday.

“It shows a total lack of respect for the space. They don’t realise the damage it causes to the pitch.

“I would like to ask horse riders to avoid taking their horses on the pitch.”