A doctor's surgery may have to close after years of costly vandalism, it was revealed today.

The Great Berry Surgery in Laindon has endured thousands of pounds of damage since 2002 and as a result has more than 50 percent of its windows boarded up.

In the past month, the attacks have almost doubled and now the surgery in Nightingales is demanding urgent action.

Helen Babb, assistant to the practise manager, said: "The doctors even suggested that we would have to close down - it's that serious.

"It has been going on for a couple of years but I would say it has got a lot worse over the past month."

The vandals, who police believe are gangs of youths, struck again over the weekend, leaving the surgery with a bill of £500.

And just a few weeks ago they smashed another window, forcing the surgery to fork out another £200 - the fourth incident in under a month.

Sgt Richard Poulton ok, community liaison officer, said they were aware of the problem and were looking to "hit it as hard" as they could.

He said: "Obviously we can't be there every hour of every day but we have increased our patrols in the area and there is a higher visibility than we had before."