Toddler swings have had to be removed from a park after they were vandalised and smeared with dog poo.

The central safety bars were taken from the toddler swings in Stone Castle Park in Stone and dog excrement was pushed into the voids making them unusable.

The equipment has now been taken down for repair and will be out of action for at least two weeks.

Stone Parish Council expects it will cost around £200 to fix the damage, which it says could have been spent positively to benefit the community.

The council’s grounds team will be taken away from their regular maintenance work to carry out the clearing and repairs.

Chairwoman of Stone Parish Council, councillor Jessica McQueen, said: "We were very disheartened to discover that someone had vandalised this piece of equipment.

“Our team work very hard to ensure that our playgrounds are made safe and fun for children. Thoughtless acts of vandalism like this, mean that the equipment will be out of use and cost unnecessary time and money to replace."

The parish council has asked any resident who witnesses vandalism to call 101 and report it to the police.