A WOMAN who created a faerie garden in community woodland that was destroyed by vandals has worked through the night to create another.

Katie Robertson was devastated when she discovered her painstaking work to create a little bit of magic in Stanley Woods near her home in Craghead, Stanley, County Durham, had been damaged.

She spent weeks creating a tiny vegetable garden with a scarecrow, lollipop fencing, tree door, wishing well, window box and path.

But sometime between Thursday and Saturday she discovered her hard work was in vain and it lay in ruins.

The 32-year-old said: “I could have cried when I saw it because it takes ages for me to do all of the work.

“The pieces are really small, because they are for faeries, and it is quite intricate. I don’t know why someone would destroy something beautiful that was meant to be a nice thing for little children to enjoy.”

Miss Robertson, who has two children herself, Aidan, 11, and Ava, seven, runs a business making faerie homes for little girls’ for their gardens and bedrooms.

She refused to be beaten by the vandals so she worked through the night on Sunday to make another garden in a more secluded part of the woods she hopes will not be trampled on.

It has a faerie door, porch, pond and toadstools with a sign saying ‘No Trolls’ as a message to those who ruined her earlier garden.

Miss Robertson said: “I see lots of people complaining that we have nothing around here, yet they completely ignore the beautiful woodland.

“I thought it would be a good way of getting people down there and for their little ones to experience some of the adventures we used to have as children.

“I also think children should be allowed to believe in something good and beautiful, it helps develop imagination which stays with us into adulthood.

“They have plenty of time as adults to see the world can be a terrible place.

“I have spent all weekend working to make another because I was determined not to be beaten.”

Miss Robertson has offered to show people her secret faerie garden but they will have to find her on Facebook to make an appointment.

To arrange to see it look for The Faerie Architect on the social media site.