LEADERS are counting the cost after yobs broke into an education centre and left a trail of damage.

Vandals smashed up equipment and getting into the Weymouth Outdoor Education Centre in Knightsdale Road near the Marsh playing fields.

As well as the education centre, the site is also home to All Sorts First Steps pre-school and this was also targeted in the vandalism spree with a playhouse and climbing frame smashed.

The pre-school’s manager, Suzanne Pinney, has condemned the acts of vandalism.

She said: “We were only fundraising for the climbing frame last year. The slide has been ripped off, we won’t be able to save it.

“There is hundreds of pounds worth of damage here. The playhouse cost £200, the mud kitchen cost us £150 and the climbing frame cost £300. They’ve ripped the bird box off too.

“We are a charity pre-school and we fundraise for all of our equipment, so we can’t replace it because we don’t have the money.

“We haven’t told the children yet. But all the parents have been made aware, they’re really shocked.

“They’re not impressed and are really disappointed, they don’t know why someone would do this to us, it’s obviously a pre-school. It’s just mindless.

“All of us are really frustrated and angry. We have all the children in today, but they can’t use the garden due to health and safety, it’s majorly disappointing.”

She added: “At the moment we have to sort out the garden so it’s safe for the children to use.

“There must have been people in the area at the time, so if you saw anything suspicious can you please contact police.”

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “We received a report at around 8.30am on Monday, October 7 of criminal damage that occurred at the Weymouth Outdoor Education Centre in Knightsdale Road.

“It was reported that sometime between 5pm on Friday, October 4 and 8am on Monday, October 7 a garden area of a pre-school based at the site had been entered and damage caused to a playhouse and climbing frames.

“Enquiries into the incident are ongoing. No arrests have been made at this stage.”

Meanwhile Dorset Council, which owns Weymouth Outdoor Educational Centre, said: “They entered through a glass panel door and vandalised parts of the building. The building has been made secured. Staff and customers are safe. We are working with the police on this matter.”

A fundraising page has been launched to raise money for All Sorts First Steps, so they can rebuild their playgarden.

To donate to the fundraiser visit www.gofundme.com and search Allsorts WOEC First Steps.

Stewart Williams aged 38 and from Weymouth, started the fundraiser.

He said: “People were horrified by what happened. It was an act of mindless vandalism.

“I think it hit a soft spot with a lot of people because the children can’t go outside an play, so they were devastated for them.”

The money will go towards funding new play equipment and repairing bits of fencing.