AS joy-ride vehicles go it's not much to look at - but it didn't stop thieves hot-wiring this ride-on mower and wrecking it during a spin.

Now volunteers who maintain well-used sports pitches have been forced to abandon their grass-cutting duties after vandals broke the equipment.

The expensive Ransom three-gang sit-on mower was hot-wired and then taken for a ride, damaging the machine so that it could no longer be used.

Denby Hawkins, secretary of the Hopgrove Playing Field Association, hit out at the culprits after finding the grass-cutter abandoned in the middle of a field.

The association won a £570,000 grant from the Lottery Sports Fund and generous donations from local bodies several years ago for the all-weather facilities off Malton Road, between the Monks Cross and A64 roundabouts.

These include grass football pitches, changing accommodation, a multi-use games area, a cricket square and archery range.

"All the maintenance work is done by the association," said Mr Hawkins. "But a ride-on mower has been hot-wired, they then went joy-riding on it, wrecked it and abandoned it.

"People are working very hard. It is heart breaking to be honest when this sort of thing happens."

He said he had seen three young lads in the area shortly before discovering the damaged mower. He then reported the incident to the police.

He said: "I had a word with them and they said they were having a walk. I told them to keep away from the machinery because it was dangerous.

"I went off for my lunch, came back and noticed this mower was stood in the middle of the football pitch. It had been hot-wired. I could see where it had been driven around the pitch. One of the blades had fallen down. The arm that supports it had snapped. The blades are under the body of the machine.

"How it has happened I can't imagine. It has made the machine almost impossible to move.

"We are just getting to the grass cutting stage. We were going to start this week. We have nearly 12 acres of football pitches to keep cutting. We look after the field ourselves. Volunteers come down every week to cut the grass."

Mr Hawkins said: "A tractor was vandalised last year. That was a write-off. We did the insurance claim, which was paid out, but we haven't replaced the tractor yet because we are waiting for somewhere secure to put it."

The association raises funds by subscription and through money-spinning events during the year.

Updated: 09:37 Monday, April 17, 2006