Rotorua rugby field destroyed by burnouts and car fire

A Rotorua rugby field has been closed after the field was torn up by a car doing burnouts before being parked in the centre of the field and set on fire - leaving a junior rugby organiser frustrated.

A police media spokesman said police were called to Ray Boord Park, on Devon St, at 4.28am on Sunday.

"The fire was well involved by the time we arrived and the fire brigade entered the field to put it out."

Central Bay of Plenty Junior Rugby chairwoman Selena Syme said it had been parked at the centre of Rugby Field 3.

"I got the phone call this morning and went down to take a look, it was just gutting.

"We are going to have to retire that field and possibly two others because the firetruck that came on to put the fire out tore them up a bit."

She said where the car had been burnt there was "glass everywhere" like it had all "exploded out".

"It's frustrating, just so stink. We only just got our season back on track and now there's this as well.

"I'll have to move everything, but I am waiting to hear back from the council about how many of the fields we've lost."

"That's our home ground and the kids deserve to be out there playing on it.

"The poor people at the council spend so much time on the fields and to have some people actions be the reason the kids can't play is a bit rubbish."

A spokesman for the Rotorua fire brigade said it attended the scene of the fire but did not want to make any further comment.

Rotorua Lakes Council sport and recreation manager Rob Pitkethley said there was some damage that would require moving the markings and one set of goal posts for one field and minor repairs to be done on another field.

"The rest of the damage isn't on a field but will require filling in and re-sowing.

"The park is being used for junior rugby at the moment and they have a couple of weeks left in their season but it looks like we will be able to work around the damage."

He said it was always really disappointing when things like this happened because of the impact it had on the wider community and their use and enjoyment of public recreation spaces.