POLICE are investigating a break-in at Coleford Bowling Club after the clubhouse was ransacked and a cash register and bottles of alcohol stolen.

The break-in at the 96-year-old club’s pavilion at the Angus Buchanan Recreation ground was discovered after 8am on Saturday, July 6.

Thieves dumped the till nearby after discovering there was no money in it, and it was returned to the club after being discovered by a member of the public.

The raid happened some time after 12 noon on Friday, July 5.

Raiders ransacked the premises and the bottles of alcohol were taken from a fridge under the counter.

The break-in follows the club returning to its historic home in 2017 after a four-year absence, after a lease dispute with the recreation ground trustees was resolved.

Bowlers relocated in 2013 to the Bells Golf Club, and when they returned it took a year to return the greens to useable condition after it had become an overgrown “cabbage patch” cut up by bikes.

The dispute dated back to 2011 when trustees refused to renew the club’s lease and submitted plans to turn the pavilion into a visitor hut.

Anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity or has information about those involved in the burglary is asked to call Gloucestershire Constabulary on 101 quoting incident 124 of 6 July.