VANDALS have caused thousands of pounds of damage at a community farm and other recreation amenities on Teesside.

The damage occurred throughout the school Easter holidays at parks in Stockton borough.

Clarences Community Farm, Billingham Beck Valley and Victoria Recreation Ground, in Thornaby, were the worst hit.

Dave Askey, countryside ranger at Billingham Beck Valley, said the vandals had caused damage that will cost £2,500 to repair.

He said: "They've caused serious, structural damage to our building here. There's a large hole in the roof, two supporting pillars have been broken and the front shutter has been damaged.

"Eventually this will have to paid for by the tax-payer. We did have police and community wardens patrolling the area but, of course, they can't be here all the time and the problem got worse the longer the Easter holidays went on. There's a lot of trust involved in running public amenities and it is just a terrible shame when some few individuals break that trust."

Councillor Alex Cunningham, Stockton Borough Council's cabinet member for leisure and cultural services, said: "This recent spate of vandalism has caused damage to several of the sites. It is particularly sad that Victoria Recreation Ground, a site which local residents had a lot of input into, has been damaged by vandals.

"We will continue to work with the police to try and address vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

"The CCTV cameras at Victoria Recreation Ground have recorded a number of incidents of vandalism and we will be working with residents, neighbourhoods wardens and the police to identify individuals over the next few days.