BOROUGH residents and visitors to the Thameside Nature Park at Mucking have spoken of their anger and frustration after vandals went of a spree of destruction, tearing down fencing, breaking fence posts and cutting wires.

The damage will cost around £3,000 to repair and there has also been considerable harm caused to the local habitat.

One of the managers at the site, run by the Essex Wildlife Trust is Jimmy All who says: "Undesirable visitors to my place of work decided to vandalise 700m of stock fencing - cutting it into sections, snapping posts and throwing sections into nearby brambles!

"As a result important grazing of the habitat is lost and approximately £3,000 of repair work will be required - as well as the hassle of sorting it all out!

"What motivates these people - I just don't get the point?"

Cows that would normally grave on the meadows have also had to be moved away, causing more disruption.

Among the many comments from local people following the damage, which took place between 4.30pm yesterday (Saturday, 1 January ) and 10am this morning, were: "I went for a walk around there today and saw the damage, I can't believe people could do that to such a great place", while another said: "It is beyond belief that anyone can do such damage to someone else's property. Just bloody vandals, it makes my blood boil!"