OFFICIALS have banned all-teenage parties from a newly-opened £500,000 village hall after youngsters went on a damaging rampage.

The hall at Bishop Monkton, near Ripon, came under attack during the party to celebrate a 16th birthday.

The damage is expected to cost £1,500 to put right.

Once the final cost has been calculated, officials intend to send the bill to the organiser of the event, while police in Ripon are investigating.

Village hall committee chairman Mervyn Beecroft, who is also chairman of Bishop Monkton Parish Council, said: "We have learned a lesson. There will be no more all-teenage parties here in future. If it is a party for all age groups, including grannies, aunts and uncles, then that's different."

Nine outdoor lighting columns costing £60 each were damaged, chairs were vandalised and 15 sets of keys were scattered around the adjoining playing field.

Bottles were smashed outside, causing a painstaking clean-up of broken glass from a bowling green.

A large cricket net was damaged and a clock was ripped from a wall.

Outside, garden furniture was also damaged.

Mr Beecroft said that before the party started, a group of teenagers had tried to buy alcohol in a pub, but they had been asked to leave. It is thought the party had also been invaded by gatecrashers.

People living near the hall raised the alarm after seeing the trail of damage outside.

Creating the new hall and its surrounding sporting facilities was described a year ago as a "sleeves rolled up project", bringing the community together, after pleas for major grants had been rejected.