Bedfordshire football club left reeling from Storm Eunice as stand is knocked down by winds

A non-league football club whose ground was battered by Storm Doris in 2017 has been left reeling after Storm Eunice swept through, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

A football stand at Barton Rovers FC in Bedfordshire had to be completely rebuilt three years ago after a floodlight pylon came crashing onto it during Storm Doris - and was knocked over again on Friday by Storm Eunice.

Club chairman Darren Whiley told ITV News Anglia that it was a "double whammy."

"One of the roof tiles came off this morning about 11am and we saw a couple a couple of roof panels came flying off," he said. "At about one o'clock I heard this almost crash and looked out of the window and the TV tower and the stand was lying on the pitch."

"It was a cost of £9,000 to rebuild it then and then today the wind got hold of it again and it's down again, so it's another rebuild job next week once the storm actually goes."

As well as the stand, the club's marquee was also damaged, as were some pitch perimeters and glass in the main stand.

In total it is estimated that the damage could cost up to £20,000 but with another storm due on Sunday and Tuesday, the club said it would not know the full extent of the damage for a few more days.

The team is playing away tomorrow but the chairman said the race was now on to get the ground ready for next Saturday's match against Bedford Town.

"It's always a blow but on the upside no-one's been hurt. It's material things, hopefully fingers crossed, the insurance might pay us out a bit to help rebuild things, but no-one has been injured and that's the main things... we will rebuild and come back stronger."