A SOCIAL club targeted by burglars for the second time in four months has vowed to "keep going".

Iffley Road's treasured Gladiator Club – used by hundreds of people – was ransacked and a safe bolted to the cellar floor ripped out.

"Upset" members of one of the club's users, the coffee group known as Sweet Memories, had to cancel a big day out as a result of the £6,000 heist on Wednesday.

The club, which pre-dates the Second World War, had just repaired £4,000 worth of damage from a previous break-in in January.

Following the latest raid in the early hours, members showed their fighting spirit by working round the clock to get the building ready to host the Thursday coffee club.

Another burglary attempt was made at the Cooperative food store on the same road at about 2am.

Thames Valley Police chief inspector John Turner said there had been no arrests so far, but the force wasn't ruling out a link between the burglaries.

Gladiator Club secretary Jane Casey of Risinghurst said cash kept in the stolen safe was to go towards a day out for the coffee morning group, which is attended by about 70 people.

Mrs Casey said: "It's a shame because they took the safe and smashed the cellar.

"We were going to take them all away to Bicester Garden centre next Thursday but we have had to cancel for the time being.

"It's not very nice at all for the club, I feel awful."

Member Michael Casey, 76, said it looked as though a gang of burglars had brought grinders and tools to cut the cash-filled safe from the floor of the cellar.

Mrs Casey said: "We had a club championship on so we worked all day to get repair the damage. You have to just keep going."

The building is home to the coffee morning clubs as well as billiards, darts and aunt sally teams.

Sweet Memories meets every Thursday morning for a session of bingo and other fundraising activities. The group is run by volunteers and the money raised by the club pays for day trips.

Member David Williams, of Risinghurst, takes his 88-year-old mother Esther to the coffee mornings on a regular basis.

The 66-year-old said was very upset on hearing of the break-in.

He said: "The club is being targeted without a doubt.

"It's really sad because the coffee club is self financing and they run a lot of different things for the members. There is also a lot of different clubs who use it.

"It's been a very difficult two years for them with all the issues surrounding the ownership. Our hearts are with everyone on the management committee."

The Gladiator Club was opened in 1946 by the Society of St John the Evangelist, known as “the Cowley Fathers”.

Until 1960 they acted as landlords. That responsibility was then transferred to the Gladiator Trust. It is understood the club is currently leased from a private owner.

The break-in is the second this year after the club was burgled and trashed by Adam Kupka in January.

Kupka, of Blackbird Leys, was sentenced to 28 months in prison earlier this month for a string burglaries across the city, which included stealing a British Heart Foundation charity tin from the club containing about £400.