A cricket club pavilion has been razed to the ground by fire only days after youths threatened to carry out a petrol bomb attack.

Firefighters were called to Bowling Old Lane Cricket Club in West Bowling, Bradford, at 3.30am today after a fire broke out destroying the building which contained changing rooms and tea rooms.

Club members have blamed youths for the fire after a boy aged about 15 threatened to petrol bomb the building last week.

One member Geoffrey Hanson said: "You wonder why you carry on.

"There a group of about half a dozen kids who hang about and only last week one of them told me he was going to petrol bomb the club after I told him to clear off.

"People from the community have put a lot of work in but as usual the minority have spoiled everything. The building is going to have to come down."

Members of the Bradford League club have included England and Yorkshire bowler Darren Gough, England batsman Bill Athey and Yorkshire Cricket Club coach Doug Padgett.

The two-floor building was left gutted by the blaze, which is believed to have been started after vandals broke in through a hole in the wall which had been boarded up.

A 20ft sq hole has been burned through the floor, and three-quarters of the roof has been destroyed.

Firefighters from Bradford were called to the suspected arson attack after a neighbour saw plumes of smoke billowing from the pavilion.

Station Officer David Swales, of Nelson Street fire station, said: "When we arrived it was obvious the fire had already been burning for some time, and the flames had taken hold on the ground floor, lower ground floor, and in the roof space.

"As we pulled up to the ground we could see a tower of black smoke coming from the pavilion, almost like a nuclear mushroom cloud.

"The roof has been destroyed and extensive damage has been caused to three-quarters of the interior.

"We believe it may have been started by vandals."

Club committee member Alan Douglas said arrangements were now desperately being made to find changing rooms so a second team game could be played on Saturday.

He said: "It's a disaster, we're just hoping that our grass cutting equipment is not damaged.

"We've had volunteers repairing the club all winter, the pavilion was broken into about three times.

"There are about five different teams who are going to be affected by this.

"We don't know yet if we're going to have to cancel games but there is no way we can use the building."

A spokesman for Odsal police said the fire was being investigated by detectives today.

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