STAFF at a West Dorset pre-school have slammed vandals who damaged their play equipment.

Police are appealing for witnesses following the incident at Bride Valley Fledglings Pre-school in Litton Cheney.

Vandals destroyed the sand pit, ripped the climbing frame and left toys strewn across the school garden.

Staff member Emma Christmas said it took the team at the non-profit making pre-school a lot of time and money to build up their ‘beautiful garden’.

Bride Valley Fledglings Pre-school, a registered charity, is managed by a committee of parents.

Ms Christmas added: “After a lovely weekend pre-schoolers returned to their beautiful garden to find that it had been vandalised, their climbing frame ripped and their sand pit broken with their toys thrown everywhere. “This has upset us all at Bride Valley Fledglings pre-school.

“It has taken a long time and a lot of money to build up our garden and resources to be able to provide a lovely safe learning environment for children to explore and deepen their learning experiences.”

Kim Pearse, chairman of the parents committee, said: “The damage occurred three days before the end of term and the children were really upset.”

“We have raised £3,500 in the last year and this incident has taken away valuable funding that could have been spent on other resources for the children.”

The pre-school relies entirely on local authority funding, fees, donations and fundraising.

PCSO Sarah Pilcher, of Dorchester West Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: “It is a small and close community in the area and this kind of incident is very upsetting, especially when it involves children’s play equipment.

“When we can we are increasing our patrols in the area and have done since the damage was caused.”