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Bowling club in Willenhall calls for security funding to ward off thieves

It is an idyllic picture that typifies the best of British life – ladies and gentleman playing bowls on a quiet green in the afternoon sun.

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But something you wouldn't normally find added to that image is barbed wire. However, one bowls club in the Black Country is being forced to consider such extreme measure to ward off thieves.

Organisers at Willenhall Trinity Bowls Club want to place the wire around the perimeter of their fences and make their security gates higher to stop intruders breaking in.

Club secretary Norman Kempson said: "We are not very happy about it.

"It's not so bad with the wall but on the gate it's not going to look very good.

"These days there is nothing else you can do."

The club, which has nearly 70 members, mostly pensioners, was last broken into in August 2013.

Thieves stole cabling and garden tools worth hundreds of pounds from an outdoor shed.

The neighbouring business, a haulage firm, has also been targeted by thieves in the past, according to Mr Kempson.

He believes the same thieves have then targeted bowls club because of its proximity to the firm.

He said: "Over the last 12 months, at least five or six times people have come over the wall or gate, broken into Nitrate and stolen things.

"The last time was last week and they stole six televisions.

"We ourselves were broken into last year and we were talking about improving the security but never got around to it."

He added: "It seems to be the modern thing. When I was a kid, burglary seemed to be burglary, but today I think a lot of it is kids."

Crown Green Bowls has been played at the bowls club on Charles Street since the 1920s, when the site was part of the Russell Street Playing Fields

The club has now organised a choral concert to raise money to improve its security.

The Short Heath Singers will perform at Short Heath Methodist Church Hall, in Wesley Road, Willenhall, on March 29 from 7.30pm. Tickets cost £5 including refreshments and are available on the door, or by calling 01902 602752.

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