The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A man who stepped in to referee a football game at the last minute was left out of pocket after his wallet and £350 phone was stolen during the game.
Paul Sellars took charge of the game between Spalding Athletic and Netherton Reserves at the Castle Sports Complex as a favour so the Saturday, September 8 game wouldn’t be postponed.
But while officiating a Samsung A8 phone and the wallet containing £12.50 was taken from his belongings.
He was particularly disappointed that South Holland District Council staff failed to lock the official’s changing room during the match.
None of the Peterborough and District Football League players had items stolen as their dressing rooms had been locked.
Paul said: “I’d have thought the council official’s duty was to lock the doors.
“I did say to the staff member when it wasn’t locked straight away ‘will my stuff be safe in there?’ and he said ‘yeah I won’t be going far’ and then he left the area.”
A spokesman for South Holland District Council said: “We have been in discussion with the gentleman concerned to ensure that we have all the available information about this incident, and are now reviewing and investigating it further.”
Inspector Gareth Boxall of Spalding Police, said: “We’re looking for two females seen leaving the area between 1.30pm and 4pm on September 8.
“We’re urging the public to be on the look out for a Samsung A8 phone that’s being sold cheaply.
“We can track these phones and confiscate them so people can end up out of pocket if they’ve bought it from someone else.”
