A grandmother says she cannot understand why people deliberately go out their way to destroy children's play parks.

Sally Blundell was disgusted to see broken swings and climbing frames at the playground in Smeeth, near Ashford, when she visited with her two grandchildren, aged seven and eight.

In addition to the damaged equipment, the play area was covered in litter.

The 58-year-old said: "There are four swings in the park - two of them were impossible to untangle, but my husband managed to untangle another one so that our grandchildren could actually go on the swing.

"The climbing frame was all broken as well."

The Brabourne Lees resident contacted the parish council who forwarded her concerns onto the Smeeth and Brabourne play park association.

She added: "The children asked me why people had done it, but I couldn't give them an answer.

"It just puts a whole downer on going to the park.

"I wondered how I could fix it, so I cleared up the rubbish, my husband got a swing down, and I contacted the parish council.

"If anyone had gone to play on the wooden frame, that could have been quite dangerous.

"Why do some people think it's appropriate to mess things up for everyone else?

"What's happened to the fabric of our society?"

Mrs Blundell worries soon there will be no safe play parks left for children to use.

She said: "What happens when they want to take their children to the park, it might not be there anymore because they kept vandalising it.

"People need to understand there are consequences to their actions but I don't know how we change it.

"I was brought up that you don't litter and you don't mess things up for other people - what's happened in a generation that somebody would actually think that's an okay thing to do?"

Mrs Blundell says anti-social behaviour in Smeeth and Brabourne is on the rise.

"We've had a lot of incidents recently where people's car windows have been smashed, and people trying to open gates," she said.

"We've never ever had that in this village and we've been here 15 years.

"Something has happened."

She added sooner or later CCTV be installed everywhere in response to the rise in crime.

"Lots of home owners now have cameras, we certainly do," Mrs Blundell said.

"We're very conscious prevention is better than cure - don't give the burglars an excuse to come into your house.

"A lot of people have Ring doorbells now, so if something happens in or around a house, there's a chance someone has caught something on their cameras.

"But as for cameras in the playground, it does make you think big brother is watching you.

"Part of going to the park is about going out and exploring on your own, but it's a very different place nowadays."

A spokesman for Smeeth Parish Council said it is very sad to see the vandalism, and they have contacted the Brabourne and Smeeth Playing Field Association who are responsible for the area.

The Playing Field Association have since detangled the swings and removed the damaged wood.

This play area is not the first to be hit by vandals, with several others in Ashford also being targeted.

Earlier this year, a wooden climbing frame in the 'Asda Park' in Bulleid Place was set on fire.

A resident who saw the flames feared the fire would spread to houses nearby.

Glass and rubbish was found in Brisley Farm Park in Kingsnorth in August, leaving a mother frustrated her children couldn't safely play in it.

The toilets of Victoria Park were also set alight by vandals two years ago. At least three boys were seen lighting loo roll and spreading it across the building.