LYME REGIS: Footballers trap night thieves

The alarm was raised at around 2.30 am on Saturday morning by Nick Higgs, who lives in Summerhill Road, opposite the football club. He noticed the lights of the club, currenty being renovated with the building of new changing rooms, had been turned on.

Mr Higgs, a local builder  and brother of former Lyme goalkeeper Chris Higgs, was suspicious and went over to the football club to see what was happening. He spotted three young people inside the clubhouse helping themselves to alcohol.

Mr Higgs suspected that - it being a Friday night in the close season -  some of the players would still be out enjoying a drink so he telephoned the Rock Point Inn, a favourite watering hole for local footballers.

A number of players, including first team captain Adam Caddy whose mother Gale owns the Rock Point, sprinted the half mile up hill to the football club.

Charity tin

They discovered that two male youths and a young girl were helping themselves to the alcohol and had also broken open the Devon Air Ambulance  charity collecting tin which contained just a few pounds.

The footballers apprehended the youths and kept them in the club after summoning the police. 

Three police cars were quickly on the scene and two 16-year-old boys , believed to be from the Cullompton area, and a 14-year-old girl from Lyme Regis, were arrested and taken to Weymouth Police Station.

Entry to the clubhouse was gained by kicking down a temporary door at the side of the premises.

Club chairman Howard Larcombe commented: “We are very grateful to Nick Higgs for being so vigilant. 

“Our players acted very responsibly to the incident and kept the youths in the club without resorting to violence.”

Mr Larcombe said the club were reviewing their security arrangments whilst the building work, which is being carried out by players on a volunteer basis, is completed, hopefully in September.

It is the second time the football club has been broken into in a year.

Last season thives got into the clubhouse andf stole a new widescreen television which had been purchased through donations from members and frienbds.

The devon Air Ambulance collecting team was also stolen on that occasion.

Said Mr Larcombe: “We don’t know what two 16-year-old boys and a 14-year-old girl from Cullompton were doing in Lyme Regisd at 2.30 in the morning.”

Work is well advanced on the building of new dressing rooms, a kitchen and clubroom extension and when finished it is thought that Lyme Regis FC will have some of the best facilities in the Perry Street League.

Mr Larcombe added: “The players are doing all the work themselves and there was no way they would stand for someone getting into the club and ruining all their good work.”

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