A YOUNG football team has been left devastated by the theft of its kit from a car boot.

Strips belonging to the under -eights Teesside Athletic Junior Football Club were taken from their coach's car, on Saturday.

The 13 sets of red shorts, red socks, and white shirts with blue collars and cuffs, along with a goalkeeper's outfit, had been stored in a kit bag and left in the unlocked boot outside David Lumb's Redcar home.

Now, unless replacements can be found before tomorrow, the boys may have to play their next game in their underwear.

Caroline Lumb, who coaches the under-13 team alongside her husband, said: "The children played against a team in Eston on Friday night and we had left the kits in a kit bag in the boot. They were stolen on Saturday night, along with other things like a rugby ball. We think the thief must just have wanted the holdall, which was quite expensive."

A spokesman for Cleveland police asked anyone who is offered the kits, or who has information on the theft, to ring Redcar police on (01642) 302626.