Dirt bikers repeatedly riding over a village cricket pitch have prompted players to express their anger and disappointment.

Tim Evans, chairman of Bradenham CC, said vandals struck for "at least the fourth time" on Friday evening, the night before his team were due to play on the pitch in the centre of the village near Dereham.

He said the team had to drag the boundary in to avoid playing on the damaged part of the field on Saturday.

Now the pitch has to be filled in with top soil ahead of a party, repairs which Mr Evans says will cost hundreds and still look "unsightly".

He said: "I don't know how many times this has happened, it's a massive pain.

"It's a lot of work to put it right again and it puts the club in a lot of trouble.

"I don't know what these loopy people get out of it, it's ruining people's enjoyment, we're so disappointed and angry.

"Thankfully they didn't ride over the square, but we've got a first team game on Saturday and we need to have the boundary back in place as we're in division one.

"It's not only the cricket club it affects, a lot of elderly people like to walk along there and could easily turn their ankle in the uneven ground."

The club held an emergency meeting on Saturday to work out a plan to stop the repeated vandalism, but was unable to find a way that was workable.

Mr Evans said: "I think the only way we could stop it would be to put a fence around the pitch but obviously we don't want that as it's a public space for all in the village.

"We did think about CCTV, but the only places we could put it up would be too far away from the pitch to catch faces and number plates."

Mr Evans is now appealing to people living around the pitch to keep an eye out for the vandals who he says usually appear at dusk or late at night.

He added: "We'd be really grateful if people could watch out for it and report it to the police if they see it happening, that would be a great help."

Bradenham CC is now planning to report the incident to the police.

Police have asked any witnesses to the incident to contact them on 101.