High winds cause chaos at Dunstable Town FC's ground
Floodlight crashes down at Creasey Park
Fierce winds have left jinx-ridden Dunstable Town FC with another headache.
A club floodlight crashed to the ground overnight during storms at the weekend, but no-one was hurt.
The club has been forced to abandon home games because of safety concerns about the remaining floodlights.
News of the freak accident reached club chairman Peter Burgoyne early on Saturday, November 14.
A structural engineer confirmed on Monday that the base of the remaining lights was rotten and unsafe.
It's another body blow for the club, which has suffered a spate of bad luck in the past year.
In February, heavy snow led to the roof on the function room collapsing, which also destroyed two other neighbouring rooms.
And then thieves broke into the members' bar and escaped with two costly plasma TVs.
Mr Burgoyne said: "It's just one thing after another. We seem to take one step forward and another three back."
Now with the pitch shut down, Mr Burgoyne said that Central Beds Council needs to act quickly on a decision about what to do about the remaining floodlights.
Proposals include supporting the existing lights with scaffolding, or putting up temporary replacements.
Another idea is to try to bring forward the installation of new floodlights, due to be fitted next year, when a massive 2.4 million overhaul takes place at the site.
Mr Burgoyne said: "We really need this new development to begin so the club can move forward."
Councillor Stephen Male said that the council was looking at possible solutions to solve the floodlighting problem temporarily.
He added that the council was now inviting tenders for the redevelopment of the site as a football centre, and work on this was likely to begin next April.
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Weather for Luton
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
