A football club has given a red card to thieves who stole their 6ft by 6ft hot water tank - leaving them without water to shower.

And members of Baildon Trinity Athletic are so fed up with a recent spate of thefts that they could be forced to fold.

While the club's three teams, consisting of up to 40 members, are currently playing well, it costs up to £6,000 a year to run the site, based at Cliffe Lane West, Baildon Green.

And, due to its remote location, the committee cannot get insurance and have to replace anything stolen themselves.

Committee member and secretary for the club's Bradford Sunday Alliance Team, Dave Parker, said: "We arrived last weekend at the club to find we had been broken in to. We just thought, what have they taken this time?'. The tank was probably taken for the copper, which is probably worth £30 to £40 in scrap. It will cost between £120 and £150 to replace it.

"In the past, we have had footballs and power tools taken and barriers around the pitch have been destroyed.

"It is getting to the stage where we are looking at trying to find somewhere else or folding the club. It is soul-destroying, really. We are just trying to provide a facility for local people to play football and all we get is all this hassle and vandalism."

Inspector John Tatham, of Shipley Neighbourhood Policing Team said: "We are aware that theft of material, including lead and copper is on the increase because it is a high value commodity at the moment. I would not say there was a particular spate of this kind of theft in the Baildon area.

"It doesn't take a lot of working out that a club like this would have showering facilities and that there is going to be a tank of some sort."