A FOOTBALL academy has hit back at those who questioned its use of a public playing field.
Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Bob Sullivan asked why the LA Raiders had been allowed to use facilities at Marsh Lane in Leyton for the last decade without paying any rent to the council.
He also questioned the group's funding and whether it was still in operation.
But LA Raiders chief executive Noel 'Mo' Morris has said his group is very much in operation and currently helps coach more than 350 young people at Marsh Lane and another site in Coppermill Lane, Walthamstow.
Mr Morris accused Cllr Sullivan and members of the Lammas Lands Defence Committee of using his organisation to score political points.
He said the council agreed to let his group use the then derelict pavilion in return for maintaining the site.
He added: "We work really hard with hundreds of young people in the borough, many of them ex-gang members and kids who are at risk, to give them positive role models and opportunities.
“We have helped over 100 young people get coaching qualifications and at the moment we have three kids who have been signed up by Tottenham Hotspur.
"In any other borough this would be celebrated and I have no idea why these people want to attack us like this.”
Mr Morris said the group had received various grants in the past ten years and could account for every penny spent.
He said: “We are currently operating on a shoestring budget. Our staff are volunteers who give up hours of their free time and the pavilion is falling apart.
"Just this morning I've been picking up broken glass, drug paraphernalia, cleaning dog mess. This is why we have use of the pavilion because the council won't do any of that.”
Mr Morris said the council had offered a five-year lease in 2010, but it contained no guarantees that the pavilion would be repaired.
"We are very frustrated by the lack of a formal agreement. If one was in place we could get extra funding,” he added.
Cllr Sullivan was not available for comment this afternoon.
The council says it is currently reviewing its management of the site, which is due to be refurbished in the next year.
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