Wreckers on rampage

Vandals left a trail of destruction in Uckfield on Friday night at the end of a week in which repeated attacks were made on Holy Cross Church.

Retired builder Jimmy James, who carries out a lot of the repairs at Holy Cross, was in despair about the amount of vandalism within the space of a week.

And police have listed damage caused on Friday night starting at about 9.40pm with a group of youths pushing over a handrail cemented to a small wall at the top of the playground in the Luxford Field car park. A large section of the wall was destroyed and the handrail and debris left strewn over the car park.

Later two windows at the library were smashed and police believe this attack was connected with a group who broke windows of a greenhouse in Cambridge Way.

Mr James said he had to repair the lychgate roof at Holy Cross last Monday after the tiles were pushed off. He returned the next day only to find windows pushed in on a panelled door.

He repaired the damage but two days later it had happened again and something had been pushed into the key hole and set alight. This time Mr James said he had no option but to cover the inside of the door with a piece of wood.

Mr James said between 50 and 70 youths aged between 12 and 15 were congregating regularly in the area of the church particularly on Friday nights. 'They have no idea what it means that this is consecrated ground and no respect for memorials here,' he said.

Police have increased patrols on Friday and Saturday nights to deal with problems of youths congregating. They are also working with licensees to make sure alcohol was not being sold to children.

Anyone with information about the damage is asked to contact PC Coleon 0845 60 70 999.