Football club's minibus targeted by masked thieves

A minibus belonging to a non-league football team was stolen by people wearing "masks" in the middle of a match, according to the club's chairman.

Alvechurch FC's Richard Thorndike said the club believed its vehicle, a white Ford Transit, was taken at about half-time during the team's Birmingham Senior Cup tie at Tamworth FC.

The home club said it was "disappointed" by the incident which was caught on CCTV at The Lamb Ground at 20:58 GMT, with the vehicle leaving at 21:03.

Thorndike said the footage showed people "wearing dark hoodies and masks" who arrived in a black Hyundai.

He said: "I just didn't expect it, you don't see it coming during the middle of a game.

"We're always careful where we park the minibus of a night time but when you're in the middle of a fixture at 21:00, which was about half-time, you expect it to be safe.

"Obviously, it wasn't."

The club chairman said the whole incident was over within five minutes.

"A black car pulled up - turns out it's a Hyundai - somebody jumped out and it took less than five minutes to get into the minibus, break the lock and get it started," Thorndike said.

A statement released by Tamworth FC on its social media pages read: "Tamworth Football Club are disappointed to find that during last night's Birmingham Senior Cup fixture against Alvechurch FC, a minibus belonging to Alvechurch FC was targeted and was taken from the car park.

"We are asking for supporters who were leaving the ground and local residents who live on Kettlebrook Road and Glascote Road to check any cameras and doorbell cameras to see if they pick up the vehicles leaving."

The BBC has contacted Staffordshire Police for more information on the incident.

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