Travellers have forced a tennis club to cancel its children’s summer school after they smashed floodlights and drove quadbikes on the courts.

About ten caravans arrived at Braintree Lawn Tennis Club in Clockhouse Way on Monday night.

Club secretary Sue Spinks said the club’s four courts were now too dangerous to play on.

She said: “They have caused all sorts of damage. The kids have got catapults and they think it’s a good idea to smash the floodlights."

The land is owned by Braintree Council, which also owns an adjoining field behind Millennium Vets in Millennium Way, where about eight caravans arrived on July 4.

A Braintree Council spokesman said it was taking legal action.

An Essex Police spokesman said officers had visited the camp and were monitoring the situation.

See tomorrow's Braintree Times for the full story.