COMMUNITY leaders have spoken of their dismay after vandals damaged seating in town’s football grandstand just weeks after a new club set up home there.

Hooligans damaged more than 20 seats in the newly-refurbished stand in Horden’s award-winning Welfare Park park between Friday evening and Saturday.

The attack is the latest in a series of incidents in the park in recent months, which have prompted Horden Parish Council to decide to install CCTV cameras in a bid to tackle the problems.

Parish clerk Paul Davison said: “We have 27 seats in various states of damage in the grandstand. A lot of them are smashed. We have taken them off at moment to await replacement.

“We have had quite a lot of vandalism in the park over the last two months.

“It is very dismaying. We have a new club who have just taken up residence here this month and then this happens. “It’s disheartening to see a community recource like that being vandalised.

“What makes it even more disheartening is that this has happened just days after we learned the Horden Welfare Park was awarded both the Green Flag and Green Heritage Site Awards for the eleventh year in succession. We are the only council in the country to have both awards.”

Mr Davison said there had been problems with motorcycles coming through the park, as well as persistent problems with flower beds being destroyed.

He said: “A lot of hard work goes into designing and planing them and then they have just been ripped out.

“There is a minority who don’t respect the hard work and dedication of the council in provide open spaces to people of the village.

“The park is for them to enjoy. By doing what they are doing the vandals are not only spoiling it for everyone else they are spoiling it for themselves as well. Because they are the ones that lose out in the end.

A police spokesman said: “We are appealing to the community of Horden to help identify the person or persons responsible for damaging the stadium seating at Horden football club over the weekend.”

Anyone who witnessed the damage or who has information should contact Durham Police on 101 quoting reference Dhm-30072017-0068. or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.