POLICE fear an abandoned factory, which has become a magnet for young vandals, is a potential death trap.

The building was left vacant 18 months ago when Calne's Signum Circuits went into liquidation. It has since been plagued by gangs of youngsters, who have destroyed the interior of the building and started numerous fires.

It has become so badly damaged police fear it is inevitable a child will be seriously injured or even killed unless the youngsters stop breaking into the factory.

Sergeant Nic Shorten has forbidden his officers to enter the derelict building, unless a life is at stake, because he fears it is unsafe. He has appealed to parents to take responsibility for the safety of their children before it is too late.

"It is a playground, but a playground of destruction," said Sgt Shorten.

"There's so much broken glass in there it's only a matter of time before one kid, through his actions or another's, is going to have a serious accident.

"Our attempts to get rid of them have just made them more determined to break in."

The main factory building consists of a single-storey shop floor, the size of a football pitch, and three storeys of offices at one end.

It was closed so suddenly much of the interior, including desks, cabinets and telephones, remained as the employees left it. The brick building still has electricity and running water.

Sgt Shorten said the factory, which was used to manufacture printed circuit boards, is a paradise for the youngsters, aged between ten and 17, who congregate at the site, some from as far away as Chippenham.

In one hour-long orgy of destruction, earlier this year, Sgt Shorten estimated a gang of youngsters caused £10,000 damage.

He and his officers attended four incidents at the site in May, including two fires, where the youngsters set fire to piles of furniture inside the building.

But the fire alarms and smoke detectors inside the factory are now switched off because neighbours were fed up with vandals triggering them as they smashed up the building.

"Once they're inside the building no one knows they're there unless they see smoke billowing out or neighbours hear them," said Sgt Shorten.

"The offices were window partitioned, but all the glass is now smashed. In one incident we discovered all the taps were left running, which is extremely dangerous because there's live electricity in the factory.

"The problem is that once word gets out that they can go there and have a licence to wreck the place we start getting kids from all over the place."

Every Monday Wilkins Builders board up the broken windows and external damage at the site.

But police say the youngsters then climb on to the roof and drop inside the building through skylights, which are between 10ft and 12ft from the factory floor.

They then kick out the boards protecting the windows and entrances to let in their friends and the cycle begins again.

Sgt Shorten is very concerned about the youngsters climbing on to the skylights because the factory's roof is fragile.

Last Friday an investigator from Signum Circuit's receivers, kpmg, visited the site with police officers to assess the building's safety and look at ways to tighten security at the site.