Assistant play leader Nicki Cook (left) and play leader Jo Thomson, of Puddleducks Community Playgroup in Harnham, survey the handiwork of vandalsVANDALS have smashed equipment belonging to a playgroup in Harnham, leaving children, parents and staff devastated.

The attack happened at Puddleducks Community Playgroup, in the grounds of Harnham infants' and junior schools, at the weekend.

Glass in the noticeboard was smashed, the windows of the Wendy house were smashed and a bicycle and bag of rubbish stuffed into the holes. A wooden picnic table was upturned and thrust into the Wendy house, a model shop was broken in pieces, a large plastic slide dismantled and a wooden rocking horse broken.

Cigarette ends and condoms were left littering the play area.

Jo Thomson, play leader of the group, which caters for 45 children and has been going for 12 years, said everyone was distressed at what had happened.

It's extremely depressing, she said. The parents are terribly upset and the children, too.

We have had petty vandalism on and off but the last couple of months had been without problems.

We teach our children to say 'please' and 'thank you' and to be nice to one another, but there are people like this who smash up children's play equipment what do they get out of it?

She said it was difficult to assess the amount of the damage but, like any other policyholder, the playgroup would have to pay a certain amount of any insurance claim and face an increase in the premium as a result.

We don't yet know what we can salvage, she said. We have to clear up the mess to ensure the safety of the children but that takes time.

We don't want to have to put gloves on and get rid of condoms but we must sterilise the area to make sure it is safe for the children.

She said Puddleducks was a community playgroup and parents were very involved with it.

We are all working really hard to get a new mobile classroom, which will cost £58,000, and we do not want things like this happening.

Fees cover our running costs but for anything else we have to fundraise.

We might even have to think about CCTV cameras but they are costly and it's disgraceful we should have to do that.

She appealed to anyone who might have been working on the next-door allotments or using the nearby football pitch and who might have seen people acting suspiciously or heard breaking glass to contact the police.