Children as young as five are getting on to a dangerous building site after vandals pulled down the security fence.

They have been playing with lumps of metal and timber on land earmarked for a health clinic on the Greenstead estate, Colchester.

A length of metal fencing next to the library, off Hawthorn Avenue, has been vandalised and a stream of youngsters have been trespassing during the school holidays.

On one occasion, residents challenging the children received verbal abuse and defiance.

And only when they threatened to call police did the children run away.

Springboard Housing Association, which is building the health clinic in conjunction with the local health authority, has been made aware of the problem and pledged to send builders to reinstate the fence as a matter of urgency.

But residents fear it won't be long before vandals strike again and the problem is repeated.

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