Thieves target cars during football match

Thieves targeted a string of cars while football fans watched a match at Chasetown Football Club.

A Bible, sat navs, iPods, tools and handbags were all stolen in the spree. At least seven cars were broken in to, many of them during the Chasetown versus Market Drayton FA Cup clash on Saturday between 3-5pm.

Chasetown stadium safety officer Mark Prince said around four or five were broken in to at the club itself. "A passer-by came to us and told us windows had been smashed so we alerted people and the police," he said.

Mr Prince said the car park was previously supervised for up to 20 minutes into the game but they would now be making sure it was monitored throughout the entire match.

Peter Bate, press officer for Staffordshire Police said: "This is obviously a high number of vehicle break-ins compared to normal and we've deployed patrols to the areas to act as a deterrent."