IT is more than two years since Darlington Football Club's last game at Feethams. These pictures show how the ground - the proud home of Darlington for more than a century - has deteriorated at the hands of arsonists and vandals.

Barely a window remains intact in the old Strikers cafe.

Inside, the former restaurant is blackened from dozens of fires which have been started using old ticket books and junk left behind after Darlington FC's last game in May 2003.

Above the dusty seats in the eight-year-old East Stand, which was built at a cost of £3m, the corporate boxes have been smashed beyond recognition.

Every internal wall has been attacked, and roof panels and wall insulation have been ripped away and trodden into the floor.

Metal poles and electrical wires have been torn down. Nothing has been spared. The carpet is not visible under the debris.

Brian Johnson, chairman of the Darlington Feethams Cricket Field Trust, which owns the land and is now responsible for its security, said: "Every conceivable thing that could be smashed, has been smashed.

"We put up metal fences, bolts, locks and chains on a daily basis, but the kids come along with bolt cutters.

"I cannot understand the mentality of these children."

While The Northern Echo was being shown the damage, three youths climbed over a gate to get into the ground and started swinging off ropes in the crumbling West Stand.

"They have even been seen walking on the roofs. It is very dangerous and someone could get hurt," said Mr Johnson.

The trust owns four acres of land on which the stadium stands, and is now paying out hundreds of pounds every week for new security measures and indemnity insurance.

Mr Johnson wants others to share the responsibility.

"We want to work with the football club, but they just abandoned the ground.

"I wish the police were more proactive. There is nothing to stop them taking these kids into custody when they are caught on the premises," he said.

A spokesman for Darlington FC, which leased the land for more than a century, said: "It is a disgrace that the ground has been allowed to deteriorate this much when the football club wants to lease it back.

"But a decision on the future use of the land has been delayed because other parties haven't resolved what they want."

He said the claim that the club had abandoned the ground harked back to past issues.

The police admit it is draining their resources.

Acting Inspector Kerrie Murray, of Darlington Police, said: "The premises are insecure, it is easy to get in and it is an absolute mess.

"We cannot be there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, we have to police other parts of Darlington. We need to know long term what is going to happen to the place."

Mr Johnson believes the only possible future for the ground is for the buildings to be razed and housing built on the site.

He wants a planning application to be submitted in the next few months in conjunction with the football club and the owners of the one-acre site next door, on which the dilapidated Quaker Sport Centre stands.

The football club has a different plan. A spokesman said: "We want to bring Feethams back into use for sport, for five-a-side football and training. But we have to do that in conjunction with the cricket club.

"It is now up to the council to bring the interested parties together."

Councillor Joe Lyonette, who lives opposite the ground, described the situation as a stalemate.

"There is a bit of a danger that kids set fire to the place without realising there is someone else in there," he said.

A council spokesman said: "We are hoping that the landowners - accepting that there are constraints on the potential development of this site - can come forward with a proposed scheme that we can consider."

While wrangles over the ownership, future and responsibility for the land continue, the stadium continues to be abused.

Mr Johnson holds the football club partially responsible. "They did nothing to help us, and now anything which had been worthwhile, has been utterly destroyed," he said.