COACHES for Monmouth Town Junior Football Club were horrified on Saturday (7th March) to find during a routine pitch inspection that upturned glass bottles had been pushed into the ground on Chippenham Fields.

With a number of matches for junior players about to start, the coaches managed to make the pitch safe for the youngsters in time.

Dave Uttley, chairman of Monmouth Town Junior FC and U12 coach said: "The issues with trying to provide a safe environment for children to play football increase with the warmer weather. This picture (below) is typical of what greets coaches on a Saturday and Sunday morning following the previous night's exuberances on Chippenham Fields.

"They often find bottles either smashed and strewn over the grass, or worse still, bottles buried either intact or with the tops smashed off to leave shards of glass exposed for some unsuspecting victim.

"All the coaches do a sweep of the grounds before training or matches and then have to spend time clearing up the mess rather than doing what they are there to do which is to give local children the opportunity to be the best they can be at football," he added.

"We know this is not just isolated to the football pitches, it occurs all over Chippenham and the Sports Association pitches as well.  We have informed the local police and council of these issues in an attempt to put a stop to such mindless behaviour."