Vandals set fire to a dry ski slope, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

Firefighters were called to the slope based at Carlisle Cricket Club’s Edenside ground in Stanwix, Carlisle, at 6pm on Good Friday and found it was well alight.

Initial estimates are that it could cost £5,000 to repair.

Mike Rayson, chairman of Carlisle Cricket Club, was outraged at the latest damage.

Referring to the vandals, he said: “It’s awful. We have CCTV and we have the pictures of these people.

"The damage doesn’t look much, but it's all the electrics that have been damaged.”

Eric Barlow, who runs the ski club, said: “The police have been down and we’ll have to assess how much damage there is, but it looks like it is going to cost between £3,000 and £5,000 to make the repairs.

“I get that people are bored, but I do not understand this.”

Mr Barlow said the damage would not prevent the club celebrating a landmark anniversary.

He added: “We’re not going to take this personally.

“We are celebrating 50 years next year and we just want to concentrate on that.”

This is not the first time the grounds have been targeted.

Cumbria police and Carlisle’s fire crews have been called several times so far this year to Carlisle Cricket Club, after has been hit by vandals.

Just a few weeks ago, the club had fires started and a reinforced bench was destroyed.

And the club fears it won’t be long before the vandalism and arson attacks end in tragedy.

Mr Rayson said: “It’s get to the point were something serious is going to happen.

“There are homes close by and it would only take an ember to catch these houses.

“The youngsters that are doing this are scum.

“I don’t think their parents must know where they are, but I would like parents to think about whether their children came home smelling of smoke. They should be thinking ‘could it have been them?’.

“It really gets you down. It’s just one thing after another and they think they’re untouchable.

“We do have names and the police have them along with the CCTV footage.”

A spokesman for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said: “When we arrived it was well alight and the bush behind had caught alight both Carlisle East and West station crews were in attendance.”

Police are currently investigating the incident.