A PARK ranger is bracing himself for more vandalism after a wrecking spree left a council with a £3,000 repair bill.

Alan Hammett, head ranger for the borough of Pendle, feels defenceless in protecting Heyhead playing fields, Brierfield, after what he described as the "worst vandalism ever encountered".

He said the repair bill would stretch an already slim council budget, and that he wanted people to know that council money was being wasted.

And he fears the yobs could could strike again following regular attacks over the past two weeks, which peaked with Thursday's vandalism.

Between 10pm and 8.30am yobs took white paint to the children's play area and wrote a series of 'nicknames' in four-foot-high letters around the roundabout, bins, slide, climbing frame and swings.

The night before, a pickaxe was smashed several times into the bowling green, causing such damage that the turf will have to be relaid.

Mr Hammett thinks the only way to stop the problem would be for residents to form a group and patrol the park themselves.

And this is something that several are attempting to organise at the moment.

Mr Hammett said that he had an attendant at the park every night for three hours, but was unable to cover the area after 10 in the evening.

He said Pendle had two rangers, who covered 58 playgrounds, parks, and cemeteries. "We don't have the manpower," he said. "We're just bracing ourselves for more vandalism.

"Normally it's little things but the last couple of weeks it has been chaos and it's deliberate to spoil people's pleasure.

"I've never had vandalism on this scale before. It's shocking.

"It appears somebody doesn't like this park. This puts people off coming in. A lot of people take pride in this place, and the public want to participate in its future. They are trying to set up a 'friends of' group.

"That could help the situation, but we're having to spend money we really don't have. It's difficult to keep up with wear and tear as it is. This is just taking money from that budget. We want to get the message across that public money is being wasted."

Police are investigating.