Car break-ins at Gloucester Park's Sporting Village

Two players had their car windows smashed and sat navs stolen from the £38million leisure centre’s overflow car park in Gloucester Park last Thursday.

The thefts followed two similar break-ins a fortnight before, when cars were raided for a wallet and mobile phone.

Rebecca Wells, 18, and her Galaxy netball team-mates want dedicated lighting and CCTV installed in the overflow car park – not only to deter car thieves, but also to prevent them from having to walk through an intimidating, unlit area to their court.

The main car park is fully lit, but the overflow car park, which the team uses because it is beside the netball courts, relies on nearby floodlights.

Players claim staff only light the court they have hired for their Thursday evening training sessions, so the other courts and car park are dark.

A Ford Fiesta belonging to Miss Wells’s fiance, Michael Alderson, 20, was one of the cars broken into at about 9pm last Thursday.

Miss Wells, of Kingswood, Basildon, said: “Only the court we use gets lit and it’s at the furthest end from the car park, so we have to walk to it in the dark and everyone feels scared when cars are getting broken into.”

Nicola Rayner, Galaxy’s club secretary, said: “Safeguarding our players is of paramount importance and we no longer feel safe.

“The lack of lighting to and from the courts is unnerving and, given the thefts that have been occurring, we fear they may come face to face with some of these criminals who are frequenting the area in an unlit and unsafe environment.

“We urge the Sporting Village to put measures in place to ensure our safekeeping as a matter of urgency.”

In February, the Echo reported Sporting Village user Paul Benton’s car had been broken into, and he claimed Essex Police told him there had been 15 break-ins in the overflow car park during the previous six months.

Anyone with information about the car thefts can call Essex Police on 101.