South Tawton Parish Council has said that the parish is suffering from an anti-social behaviour problem following recent vandalism to the public toilets.

Councillors reported that vandals had broken in to South Zeal’s public toilets on at least two separate occasions at the end of last month causing untold damage to the facilities including smashing the electric box, destroying toilet roll dispensers and burning a toilet seat in one of the men’s toilets.

Cllr Jenny Shaddick said: ‘It’s ridiculous. We are so lucky - we are the only village for miles with toilets. It’s just being ruined.’

Photos of the damage also show that the culprits have smeared faeces across the window, clogged the sinks and stuck toilet paper to the walls.

Though vandals have focused their attacks on the public toilets, they have also caused damage to the football hut at the recreation ground which is currently being built.

Photos show that those responsible have damaged the partly-built hut by knocking out some of the breeze blocks, resulting in a large structural defect.

The council, which suspects a group of young people may be responsible for the damage, has informed the police of the incidents but police said they are unable to bring the vandals to justice without firm evidence. However, the police have still urged the council to log any more vandalism incidents with them.

But councillors are getting desperate and have called on the police to do more.

Cllr Shaddick described the burning of the toilet seat as the ‘last straw’ and said: ‘When we had the folk festival the police were there - we asked them if they could be present at the event.

‘It would be great if the police could patrol the park, even if it’s only a few times a week.’

South Zeal is just the latest to be beset by vandalism as towns and villages across West Devon report a rise in the number of vandalism incidents.

Okehampton has also been victim to vandalism which has included damage to facilities in Simmons Park, disruption to Okehampton Excelsior Silver Band practice and assault on an elderly man causing fear, sadness and irritiation among residents.

Two years ago, vandals damaged the zip wire in Simmons Park which has now been replaced.

In response, Okehampton Town Council has recently installed CCTV cameras across Simmons Park and in key areas around the town in order to tackle the crisis

Last month, Okehampton Police reported that the CCTV helped officers successfully identify and deal with those responsible for damage to plants at Fairplace, damage to a bin in Simmons Park and the destruction of the town’s book swap.

On the back of this success, Okehampton Town Council is now getting ready to place more CCTV cameras around the town in the second phase of the rollout.

The police were unavailable for comment.