THE owner of a Runcorn archery club which was burgled and set on fire is appealing for volunteers to help him clear the mess the attackers left behind.

Between 10pm yesterday and 1.30am this morning, Tuesday, eight or nine people were seen on CCTV entering Kyujutsu Archery Club in Catlefield Avenue East.

They stole a large number of items, including 10 recurve bows, four compound bows, around 50-60 arrows, a mountain bike and power tools which were being used to carry out work in the building.

The intruders also lit three fires in the property, causing extensive damage.

Club owner, Chris Ord, has owned the club for the past three years and is asking for volunteers who can help him clean up what is left.

He said: "I am quite numb at the moment. There were three fires in three rooms and every room has been damaged. The new kitchen we had installed recently is covered in soot.

"When I took over the building we had to invest a lot of money because of previous fire damage. It is now worse than before.

"It is a real kick in the teeth because I made the club for people with disabilities and for the community, to give people a hobby, we have 142 members. That has been taken away.”

Chris is now in desperate need of an electrician and someone to secure the building after firefighters had to rip off the doors to gain entry to the property.

He has also spent today picking up arrows from the surrounding area which the attackers had been shooting as they passed.

Detective sergeant Ian Smith said: "This looks like it was a planned and targeted attack on a sports club as the offenders made attempts to destroy CCTV cameras and footage before stealing the items and setting the fire.

"They have stolen weapons which can be very dangerous and we need to recover these as quickly as possible.

"If anyone has any information please contact Cheshire Police on 101 quoting incident number IML 382004."

Alternatively you can send information in online.

Anyone who is able to help Chris in clearing the club, contact him through the Kyujutsu Archery Club Facebook Page.