Yobs who torched a wooden train in a playground twice in the space of a few days have been blasted by a parish council chairman.

John Elliott, of Tiptree Parish Council, said he was mystified by the attitude of the vandals, who have in the past used bolt-croppers and car-jacks to inflict damage at the playground on the Grove Road playing field.

Firefighters successfully put out the £1,000 toy train following a first arson attack on Thursday.

But they had to return at 11pm on Sunday after the youths launched a second bid to destroy the equipment, this time lighting bark underneath it to stoke the blaze.

Mr Elliott said councillors were "upset" that the youngsters seemed so intent on wreaking havoc.

He said: "They are bringing all sorts of tools down there. We had 12 padlocks broken over a short period of time and they must have used bolt-croppers to do it.

"They also wedged apart the bars in the gate with a car-jack to save having to climb over."

Published Wednesday August 18, 2004

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