Some of the finest young high-jumpers in the country have been left with nowhere to practise after vandals struck again at the County Ground.

The high jump bed bought for more than £1,000 only two years ago has been burnt to the ground in the latest in a string of attacks at the athletics ground.

Howard Moscrop, chairman of track and field at Swindon Harriers, is tired of troublemakers spoiling things for his young athletes.

Among those who may have to wait months for a replacement bed to be bought is 17-year-old Katherine Silto, who is in the top 15 in the country for her age group.

She said: "When I compete against other athletes and see some of the superb facilities they have, sometimes I think 'why do I bother?'.

"I want these vandals to stop doing it because they're not achieving anything only spoiling things for us."

Mr Moscrop said: "We have an older bed which is suitable for the younger members but older competitors now have nothing.

"We have asked for a fence to be put around the track which would cost about £28,000, but we were told by the council that would be too expensive yet it must have spent about that much in recent repairs from vandalism."

He said the hammer cage had been vandalised recently and is now suitable only for training and would not pass safety tests for competition.

The long jump boards have been damaged, the sandpits are regularly misused and the track cabin was burnt down three years ago.

Mr Moscrop believes part of the problem is that there is no on-site security other than CCTV cameras, which are infrequently used.

Swindon Council spokeswoman Sue Pycroft said better security measures were being considered in the council's feasibility study for improved sporting facilities, which was revealed by the Advertiser on Monday.