PUPILS using a shortcut through a wooden fence have been blamed for smashing through a repair job just hours after it was completed, claim residents.

And homeowners believe their properties are vulnerable to attack at night because intruders can easily access their houses from adjacent unlit playing fields.

For two years, dog walkers have used the playing fields to exercise their pets, and pupils have used it as a short cut to and from school, and during the lunch break to reach nearby shops.

The wooden panel fence separating Nunnery Wood High School from residential cul-de-sac Bradford Place in Newtown was patched up by the house construction company Barratt, on Friday morning, as a gesture of goodwill.

But by late afternoon, the joiners' handiwork was undone, and pupils on their way home were re-using the unauthorised short cut after school.

Worcester City Councillor for the ward, Mike Layland said residents needed to be vigilant to catch the culprits.

"It's taken over 18 months to be repaired, and in under 18 hours it has been vandalised again. It's too crazy for words," he said.

"We need the neighbours to be vigilant and get the names so we can get the police involved," he added.

In October, the Evening News first reported on the broken fence. Then, it had been used for 18 months as a shortcut.

The school had mended the problem at its own expense, but again, within 24 hours the wood panelling had been pulled down.

One nearby resident said it was school pupils who caused the latest bout of damage.

"It was fixed in the morning but it was damaged again on their way home after school.

"We need something with more strength.

"It's not much fun because of the security - we wonder who is coming through late at night. We bought a house here because we thought it would be a quiet area," he said.

Barratt West Midlands confirmed the work had been carried out as a goodwill gesture, and the company would not be repeating the work.

Barratt - who built the homes in the early 1990s - said the fence was now the residents' responsibility and they had to make their own arrangements.

Alun Williams, Nunnery Wood High School's head teacher was unavailable for comment.