A COMMUNITY in Nythe has been left reeling after their allotments were ransacked for the third time in nine days.

Around 15 sheds in a field off Greenbridge Road were targeted on Thursday night - the same location was hit less than a week before in an attack that saw some 50 sheds ransacked.

The last plot holder left the site at 11pm on Thursday night with the first person arriving at 8am on Friday morning to discover the damage.

Another set of allotments, in Gorse Hill, was also targeted on the same night and police believe the same gang may be behind both incidents.

Geraldine Brant, chairman of the allotments society, said: “It’s the third time in nine days, they’ve ripped people’s sheds apart, this time they got into the community container.

“They’ve graffitied inside sheds, smashed the lock to pieces so there’s nothing left of it, there’s a lot of damage. There’s nothing here of any value, it’s just totally mindless vandalism.”

Equipment, including tools that some plot-holders have had passed down through their families, has been smashed during the incidents. Food has been taken from the sheds and thrown against the walls - it is a series of attacks that has hit the community hard coming so close to the festive period.

“We’ve got quite a few elderly people here and they really feel disheartened.

“It’s a place they go to for tranquility, to meet other people and to feel safe and comfortable - these people are taking that away from us.

“Over the last two years we have been working to build up a community where people, young and old, can enjoy each other’s company and relax - they’re trying to destroy that.

“Over 200 people use this allotment and it has hurt a lot of them.”

Despite the mindlessness of the repeated attacks, the allotment holders are determined to stand firm as a community and soldier on. Already they have been down at the site supporting each other and cleaning up the damage left behind.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: “We received a call at 8.50am on Friday morning reporting that overnight, a number of sheds on the allotment site in Greenbridge Road were broken into and damaged.

“The same morning, at 10.45am, we received a separate report that approximately 11 sheds at the allotment site in Wheeler Avenue had been broken in to and items thrown across the site.

“Anyone who witnessed or heard any suspicious activity should call police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.”