A DERELICT former hotel in Wroughton was trashed by vandals who ransacked the building and left a wrecked car outside.

The Ivy, in Wroughton - which lies between the Prospect Hospice and a care home - was targeted by intruders who smashed their way through the corridors and even carted out a restaurant oven.

The former 32-bedroom hotel on Moormead Road has been boarded up for two years but still retains the original furniture, fittings and signs.

Vandals left what was the side reception in a pitiful state by smashed internal doors and left debris strewn across the floor.

An oven from the restaurant was dumped in the car park alongside a smashed-up car daubed with paint.

The lights had been left on in daylight hours on Sunday, showing the full extent of the damage.

Coun Brian Ford (Con, Wroughton & Wichelstowe), Swindon Borough Council cabinet member for Streetsmart and highways, said: “The vandalism is causing a lot of concern to the community. This includes the fire risk and the risk to people injuring themselves, although they shouldn’t be there in the first place.

"We also do not want any disturbance to the people living and working in the hospice and the care home.”

Coun Ford has been in contact with the police and environmental health about securing the building after reports of youths trying to enter the property.

He said: “The owner has said he is putting new security measures in place to stop the vandalism and board the building up properly, rather than just putting up plywood.

"I have also been told a security firm is going to be employed to keep an eye on the place."

"It’s a great pity the building has fallen into this state at a time when there is a booming economy. Surely there is a gap for a small private hotel to cater for business people visiting the town. We would like to see it as a hotel once more.”

The building has Prospect Hospice on one side and Ladymead care home on the other.

Andrew Thompson, the senior communications manager at the hospice, said: “Clearly we are very saddened that vandals have chosen to be so destructive to premises that border Prospect Hospice."

"We hope, as I am sure many people in Wroughton do, that the future of the former Ivy Hotel can be satisfactorily resolved in the near future.”

The hotel, comprised of a former Victorian farmhouse and a modern block, closed in April 2013 after its owner ran into money troubles. It has been in the hands of Etruscan Investments, run by Darioush Keynejad. Mr Keynejad did not respond to requests for comment today.

KSA Group, which handled the administration in 2013, said the building had been handed over to the ‘secured creditor’ of the business but it could not give out owner information.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said two people were seen smashing windows at 8.50pm on June 17. The pair, one of whom was wearing a pink shirt, were seen walking into Wroughton afterwards. Anyone with information should call police on 101.