A brand new waterpolo pitch installed less than two months ago was destroyed by the high winds that swept across Malta and Gozo last week, a Marsalforn sports club has said. 

Otters Aquatic Sports Club said that the pitch, which they had paid a pretty penny to import and install in June, meant that weeks of collective hard work had "vanished in the space of two days". 

The club blamed the damage on the bay's lack of a breakwater, saying the bay was "exposed to gigantic waves which year in year out destroy everything that stands in their way."

Talk of a Marsalforn breakwater dates back several years, with more than €70,000 spent on studies and impact assessments related to the breakwater between 2010 and 2013. 

Otters ASC players now have no pitch to train in, midway through this season's waterpolo championship. 

A swimming school the club organises for more than 100 children every summer may also end up being cancelled, the club said in a statement.

Otters ASC urged the competent authorities to "prioritise the re-construction of the breakwater as soon as possible in order that the effects of waves are mitigated" and stressed that the construction of a pool in Gozo has become a must.