THE men who 'killed' frosty the inflatable snowman have been made to pay for their crime.

Blackburn magistrates ordered them to pay compensation for their cold hearted felony, which they were told was fuelled by drink.

And it was revealed in court that a blow-up reindeer had joined the snowman in the puncture repair department, after being damaged during the attempted abduction of his eight foot high pal.

Frosty the Snowman was proving popular with passers-by after Stephen and Sheila Moss placed him in the front garden of their home in Preston Old Road, Blackburn, as part of their own winter wonderland display.

But just as Sheila was getting over the initial embarrassment of having the festive feature lighting up her garden, vandals attacked Frosty on Saturday night.

He now lies punctured and deflated on the front lawn, complete with an improvised RIP sign left nearby.

Daniel John Parker, 20, of Bonsall Street, and Matthew James Harrison, 18, of Preston Old Road, both Blackburn, pleaded guilty to criminal damage to the inflatables belonging to Stephen and Sheila. They were each ordered to pay £55 compensation and £50 costs.

After the case, Sheila said: "It's a nice surprise. The money sounds good. I think they should be punished in some way as nobody can just goes round vandalising other people's property."

Bill Maude, prosecuting, said Mr Moss had paid £75 for Frosty and £30 for the two-foot high reindeer as part of the festive decorations in his garden.

When interviewed about the damage to the inflatables, Parker and Harrison had admitted trying to remove the snowman from the garden.

Elliott Taylforth, defending, said it appeared that his clients had more than enough Christmas cheer when they committed the offence on Saturday. "Poor Frosty was sitting there minding his own business when these two lads came staggering along extremely drunk," said Mr Taylforth. "They haven't a clue why, but they thought it would be a good idea to take Frosty for a walk.

"Whether they thought they would be able to fly through the air Aled Jones-style I don't know, but the end result was that Frosty and his friend ended up a little deflated," he said..

Mr Taylforth said there was nothing malicious about the incident.

"It was a drunken escapade that went wrong and they both realise how attached people can get to their garden ornaments at this time of year," he added.