A hit and run driver smashed into a gig club's brand new boathouse in Flushing at the weekend.

The Flushing and Mylor Pilot Gig Club Boathouse was opened less than two months ago thanks to a hefty grant from Sport England's Olympic legacy fund.

But sometime overnight on Friday a thoughtless motorist crashed into the building, causing considerable damage and driving away without reporting the accident.

The first ladies crew, fresh from the World Pilot Gig Championships in the Isles of Scilly over the May Bank Holiday weekend, discovered the damage at 7.15am on Saturday.

They reported it to Simon Thompson, chair of the club, who was straight on the phone to the police.

“It seems a vehicle had probably reversed back to turn, despite the notices clearly saying no access to cars,” Mr Thompson said.

“The corner of the building was heavily damaged so the impact must have been considerable.”

Broken glass and paintwork were embedded in the structure of the building and “club members, dog walkers and villagers were all equalled shocked” not just at the damage, “but the fact that whoever did it decided not to own up,” Mr Thompson said.

“It's perhaps symptomatic of the times that some individuals do not want to seem to take responsibility for their actions.”

Despite the “initial shock and anger” all members are now rallying around to repair the damage.

“Not only has the club worked hard to achieve this new boathouse to store their gigs, the local community have been incredibly supportive and have already seen this as a magnificent asset for the villages of Flushing and Mylor,” Mr Thompson added.

“We hope that the perpetrator will have the courage and decency to own up.”

Anyone who saw anything suspicious in the Flushing area on the night of Friday, May 10 or the early hours of the following morning is urged to contact the police on 101.

The vehicle involved is likelt to have sustained a large amount of damage to its offside rear bumper and light cluster.