MALVERN Town FC's promotion to a higher league has been threatened by thieves who targeted improvements made to the Langland Stadium.

Fence panels were stolen overnight on Sunday, while others were smashed in the attempt.

This is the latest in a long series of thefts and vandalism that has hampered work at the ground.

The club's joy at being unexpectedly promoted when the league system was restructured, after narrowly missing out on automatic promotion last season, has been crushed by the spate of attacks.

Improving the ground to meet league standards means the fence must be finished by the start of the new season.

Club treasurer Geoff Allen said the trouble started as soon as work began on the new fence.

"I've lost track of the number of times panels have been stolen or vandalised," he said.

"Because we've been promoted, we've got to get the ground graded and we have to build this fence. The league starts on August 18.

"It won't look very good if we have the other clubs visiting us and it's still not finished.

"If it's not ready, we'll be given a warning by the league and if we still can't get it finished, we could be thrown out."

Witnesses should call police on 08457 444 888, quoting 472/240706.