A 125-year-old football club could be on the brink of closure after repeated attacks by vandals.

Evenwood Town AFC has suffered a series of break-ins, and fires have been started in the pavilion.

Manager Ken Houlahan said not enough was being done by police to prevent the vandalism, and volunteers at the club had become so demoralised that it faced an uncertain future.

Recently, £10,000 was spent on improving the ground and floodlights, worth £45,000, were installed, but the vandalism is deterring further improvements.

Last June, £1,500-worth of damage was done to the stand, and eight weeks ago, equipment valued at £500 was stolen from the pavilion.

After the latest break-in last week, a club with a four-inch nail in it was discovered and there had been an attempt to light fires in the pavilion.

Drunken youths are believed to have caused the damage.

Mr Houlahan said police were given the names of those responsible.

He said: "All they had to do was check the closed circuit television in the off-licence and they would have found out who was buying the alcohol. This is all centred on underage drinking.

"It's a shame because we do a lot of work with youths, but these toerags don't give a toss about the projects we put on.

"It's not so much the cost of the damage but it's the cost in terms of manpower."

Mr Houlahan added: "It's hard enough getting people running these things without giving volunteers extra work before a match."

Community Inspector Ian Butler, from Bishop Auckland police, said he was aware of the problems at the football ground and that local beat policeman PC Andy Currie had increased patrols in the area.

In recent months, there had been an increase in anti-social behaviour.

PC Currie and the anti-social behaviour coordinator, Phil Shaw, had visited parents of persistent offenders and were considering issuing Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (Asbos).

Insp Butler said: "We're trying to pin down and identify the people responsible and will take the appropriate actions.

"We've visited all the licensed premises in the local area and we feel confident that the licensees and shopkeepers are fully aware of their responsibilities.

"We encourage anybody who sees anyone committing a criminal offence to report it to us and anybody who does we will keep their identity a secret.