Young footballers have been left with nowhere to train after vandals destroyed part of an all-weather pitch in Oxford.

Vandals hacked out a 15in circle of pitch at the all-weather area behind Bullingdon Community Centre, in Peat Moors, Cowley, forcing Oxford City Council to close it for safety reasons.

Richard Bryant, secretary of the Bullingdon Community Association which rents out the pitch, said: "I hope they will repair it quickly because it's reasonably well-used, with a lot of informal use as well as some organised use by local teams.

"At the moment the gates are locked and it's out of operation, although there is a temptation for kids to climb over and use it.

"The Peat Moors area has had quite a lot of disruptive behaviour over the past six or seven months, but why they should want to do it, I don't know. I find it quite mindless behaviour.

"The pitch comes into its own in the winter months because it's floodlit.

"They are damaging a public facility which is designed for community use including by young people. No doubt some of the people responsible have used the area in the past for playing football and other activities.

"We see it as very much a community resource and it's sad to see it damaged and vandalised."

Among the teams which use the area is the Bullingdon Boys, whose under-14s and under-17s train at the pitch twice a week. Already one practice has had to be cancelled.

Bullingdon Boys chairman Trevor Kimber said: "It has proved pretty awkward. The other pitches are a bit wet and there are no lights so really it stops us training unless we find an alternative venue.

"It's just typical of the way things are these days. The stupid few ruin it for everybody else, but it just happens too often.

"It's just sad that they do this sort of thing. You get some kids who don't want to do stuff and they just disrupt everything."

The pitch was damaged overnight on Tuesday, October 9, and the council closed it on Monday, October 15.

A spokesman for the city council said: "The all-weather area at Peat Moors has been closed for safety reasons after vandalism at the site.

"We can't reopen the site until it has been repaired.

"We're trying to establish how much this work will cost. There are signs in place to warn people why the site has been closed."