The manager of a sports club being plagued by thieves has promised to take action after another spate of break-ins.

Last week, seven cars were broken into at the Loughton Football Academy, as the owners played on the outside pitches.

In June a number of cars were targeted at the Langston Road club, indicating that thieves may be aware that there is no CCTV covering the car park.

Now, site manager Joel Mason says that the club is fed up.

He said: “People really do park their cars at their own risk here. There are lockers and a reception where valuables could be left.

“These horrible thieves target people playing five-a-side because they know that they leave things in their cars, rather than 11-a-side teams who will use the inside facilities. It is happening quite a lot.

“It’s not just us. Goals and other sports clubs are being targeted, too. It isn’t a nice thing to happen at all.

“Thieves seem to have cottoned on to the fact that people leave things in their cars, it only happens to people playing five-a-side.”

Mr Mason says that the football club which rents pitches and hosts party events has decided to bring back security and will erect warning signs for visitors.

He said: “It looks like we will have to bring someone back into the car park.

“We had someone before but because we then charged 50 pence per car, to cover his costs, people stopped booking with us. The money was to keep their cars safe.

“I know what I would do given the choice.”