Pupils' heartbreak as vandals wreck garden

8:22am Thursday 15th March 2007

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CHILDREN were left devastated after vandals wrecked their primary school garden.

Yobs ripped up trees and overturned pot plants in the grounds of Walmsley School, Egerton.

The incident happened just over a week after the school was left with a £1,000 repair bill when vandals climbed on to the roof and damaged an extractor fan and guttering.

Headteacher Debra Carr said: "We were absolutely devastated when we saw the garden on Tuesday morning.

"Trees had been uprooted, tubs were overturned, there was soil everywhere and a lot of damage to the plants that staff and pupils had worked particularly hard on."

Mrs Carr said teacher Matt McGlashan had been working with the pupils to create a fruit and vegetable patch, with strawberries, onions at the Blackburn Road school.

The school had landscaped its grounds and developed the garden thanks to a £5,000 National Lottery Awards for All grant.

Roses have been planted to grow around a pergola, near the orchard on one side of the school driveway.

Seating and willow arches were installed opposite.

Mrs Carr said some parents had offered to help Mr McGlashan restore the garden after she told them about the damage in a letter sent home with pupils.

"Everyone gets a huge amount of pleasure from working in the garden and spending time in it," she said. "We feel very strongly that we are not going to let anybody spoil this for us."

Mrs Carr said police had agreed to put on extra patrols in a bid to catch those responsible and called on parents to inform officers, or the school, if they saw anyone hanging around.

Anyone with information about the vandalism should call police on 0161 856 5761.