THE hard work of hospice volunteer gardeners has been ruined by vandals.

Up to 100 onions grown in the gardens of St Cuthbert's Hospice, in Park House Road, Merryoaks, Durham, have been ripped out of the ground and thrown in a hedge.

The hospice, which provides specialised palliative care for people with life-threatening illnesses, grows its own food for patients' meals.

The vandals struck on Tuesday night.

Nurse manager Margaret Jefferson said: "All of the vegetables have been growing very well this season.

"It is such a shame to see all of the onions simply thrown into the hedge. It is depressing for the volunteer gardeners and an insult to the patients who attend here."

Community fundraiser Michele Iles said: "It's not as if the onions were taken to eat or for sale.

"We try to grow as much fruit and vegetables as we can to cook in the kitchen. All of our gardeners are volunteers and all the effort they have put in has been ruined by pointless vandalism.

"In the past, we have experienced problems with the summer house and garden shed being broken into.

"We inform the police where stolen equipment can be replaced on insurance, but onions, no."