A POPULAR Titchfield Common recreation ground could be lost after council bosses revealed they might not renew its lease.

The two football pitches and cricket pitch on the ground off Hunts Pond Road are well used, but vandals have left a trail of destruction, smashing windows, forcing locks and digging holes in the grass.

Over the last few days a clean-up operation has been carried out to remove the mess from an arson attack on a mobile cabin used as changing rooms.

Now council officers at Fareham are compiling a report on the advantages and disadvantages of renewing the 25-year lease for the Hampshire County Council-owned ground.

Charlie Read, Fareham council's outdoor recreation officer, said: "The terms of the lease mean it is not worth the council making any long-term investment in the facilities as there is a three-month get-out clause for either party.

"The temporary cabins used as changing rooms have been there since 1977 and are in a pretty bad state.

"The council will decide whether to renew or terminate the lease depending on any conditions attached. A decision will be made next year."

Mel Watch, secretary of the Fareham and Gosport Football League, said it would be a huge blow if the council did not renew its lease.

"It's better to keep what we have already got rather than have nothing at all.

It could be very serious for us. The league has been using the two pitches a lot this season because the Allotment Road ground in Sarisbury Green was being dug up."

Community beat officer Sgt Phil Chester urged any members of the public who witness vandals in action to contact him.

He said: "Most of the incidents occur in the evening. Juveniles hide behind the back of the clubhouses and start spraying graffiti and vandalising property."