OFFICIALS at a West Devon football club catering for dozens of local youngsters reacted angrily this week to news that its rent had been tripled.
Both Horrabridge Football Club's president and secretary spoke out against their parish council's decision to increase its rent from £60 a year to £200.
They claimed it was the latest in a series of hurdles put in the way of its work with local youngsters — an accusation denied by the council, which said it had great respect for the efforts being made.
Club secretary Ian Mulholland attended the parish council meeting last week to ask councillors to reconsider the rent hike.
He said later that they would not — neither would they stagger the increase.
'We are trying to keep the kids' costs down and we put our time in for free,' he said. 'It's sometimes difficult for parents to outlay money for football with all their other commitments. We're worried some of the kids will stop coming.'
Club president Bill Coleman said: 'The thing that really annoys me is the council does nothing over there — we've spent £3,000 on a new pitch. We had to get their permission and now they're telling us we are only allowed to use one of the pitches.'
Mr Coleman said the council contributed nothing to the ageing pavilion either. 'The only reason it's still standing is because of the money we spend and the work we put in,' he said.
'We want to build a new pavilion and they keep stopping that. We have a £6,000 loan from West Devon Borough Council sitting in the bank, but we can't do anything because Horrabridge Parish Council won't do anything to help.
'We haven't got the money to give to the council and anyway it would be better spent on the kids themselves.'
Horrabridge Council's recreation committee recommended extending the club's license to use Fillace Park for a further 12 months and increasing its rent.
A proposal by vice-chairman Mike Jessop to hold the increase to only £100 was rejected. The original proposal was passed four votes to one.
Mr Jessop said the council reckoned the amount the club was being charged was small given the number of teams they had using the grounds and compared with what other clubs in the area were paying.
'Each year everything is going up — it was to cover running costs,' he said.
And Cllr Jessop insisted Horrabridge Parish Council was trying to work with the football club.
'I value the things they are doing with the kids and I think the other councillors do too. 'I take my hat off to them. We are trying to work alongside of them,' he said.