VANDALS have once again targeted the building site of Tongham community centre, causing several thousand pounds worth of damage. The project, located on Poyle Road, has been hit by several mindless attacks, which have left villagers incensed. Tongham Parish Council has been saving for the facility for the past 17 years, and the work to replace the old wooden pavilion began in May. In June, hooligans pushed over three courses of bricks around the perimeter of the building which cost £2,000 to repair. Last Friday, approximately 15 older teenagers broke into the fenced building site to push over breeze blocks set to be used as an internal dividing wall. Police were called by a nearby neighbour at around 8-30 pm, and despite their quick arrival and a subsequent chase, the vandals made a hasty escape . Tongham Parish Council chairman Clive Handy was furious. "It's a continuous nightmare - these people are just driving us up the wall with their idiocy," he said. "Although they did not cause major damage, it is still very annoying, and utterly pointless. This facility is being built for the people of Tongham to use, and I can't imagine why anyone would want to vandalise it." "We are running on a shoestring to get this thing finished and we can't afford to put these things right," he added. And Mr Handy was keen to urge anyone with information to come forward. "A crime report has been raised, so should anyone know of a perpetrator, do let the police know," he said. However, good news came on Wednesday in the shape of a £1,000 grant from Guildford Borough Council's safety and security committee, which will ensure a security presence on the site. "It's going to give us a bit of a buffer, and if we've got security guards on site it'll be better during the delicate latter stages of building. I'm delighted," he said.
