Anger mounts as club is targeted by vandals

After clubhouse windows were broken and the playing surface damaged on Monday, spokesman Mike Holt said a catalogue of problems dating back several years was now causing members considerable distress and costing the club money. In the last year alone, members have seen the bowling green covered in graffiti and burned with chemicals, a mature cherry tree set alight and clubhouse windows smashed while members were inside playing bridge.

Mr Holt, last year's club captain, found a discarded football and a sackload of rubbish, including alcohol bottles and pizza boxes, at the scene this week.

"In the last two years, the frequency and severity of these acts has increased, and the club has reported many incidents to the police and has frequent contact with community officers," he said.

"The time has come for the authorities to become proactive instead of reactive when it is too late. Soon, the bowling club and the members who play bridge might decide to say enough is enough - and if that happens, it will be a disgraceful failure."

Mr Holt believes many of the problems stem from a lack of facilities and activities for young people in the area. Ivor Pumfrey, head of environmental services at Malvern Hills District Council, said the problems were part of a wider pattern in the Priory Park area that the council was trying to stamp out.

"The problem is with a very small minority of anti-social individuals, and our priority is to deter and apprehend them," he said.

A spokesman for Malvern Police said they were seeking the public's help in trying to identify those who had caused the recent damage, which was estimated at approximately £500. "We believe there may have been a number of people in the area at the time, between 6.45pm and 7.45pm on Monday," said a spokesman Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 08457 444 888, quoting 657S/070507. Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.