VANDALS have struck again in Alcester - causing £1,000 damage at Conway Fields play area.

At a meeting of the town council on Monday, councillors heard how vandals had removed bolts and stanchions from a toddlers' swing, and had destroyed two concrete litter bins.

Clerk Derrick Ward said there was £400 damage to the swing, and the bins were worth £250 each.

"The damage to the swing was hugely dangerous, and they must have used a sledge hammer to smash the concrete bins," he said.

"The contractor has secured them as well as he can, and I have contacted the insurance company."

Mr Ward told the Chronicle they had used "vandal-proof" bolts, but were now looking at going a step further and welding them in permanently as part of the fight against regular vandalism in Alcester.

"We are presently revamping our play areas, we are replacing all the safety surfaces which is costing another £5,000, so this has come at a nasty time for us in that we are mid-contract," he said.

"We are insured to a degree, but we have an excess so we have to bear the cost of many of these incidents - this is money the people of Alcester are having to find."