VANDALS have left a trail of damage costing £1,000 around Warden Bay Village Hall on Sheppey. It's the latest of a series of attacks and comes five months after yobs trashed a play area for young children outside the hall and wrote obscene graffiti on a door.

Parish council chairman Pam Henry, who is also vice-chairman of the village hall management committee, said: "We are really hard up for funds. We can't afford this. It's getting too much and I don't know what we are doing to do."

Mrs Henry said a claim against insurance policies would mean premiums going up. The hall re-opened six months ago after having being refurbished and having a new floor fitted following flood damage in February this year.

The latest damage includes:

* Five hallogen lamps which light a skateboard board outside the hall have been smashed or damaged.

* A broken gate at the hall entrance.

* Two manhole covers have missing. They replaced others which were stolen.

* Playgroup equipment outside the hall damaged after vandals try to set fire to it.

* A meter cupboard door ripped off the hall and two roof tiles missing.

* Street signs in Warden Bay Road have been bent over.

A police spokesman said officers were aware of the damage and patrols would be stepped up in the area. But Mrs Henry said: "If we see a police car, we'll put the flags out. We are the forgotten part of Sheppey. What we really need are CCTV cameras, but we can't afford them."

Mrs Henry said police had put their mobile Hawkeye CCTV system in the village, but this was only for a short period.