A HEREFORD head teacher says skateboarding vandals are costing his school thousands of pounds in repair bills.

Steve Pugh, head at Hampton Dene Primary School, says over the last two years more than £2,500 has been spent fixing and replacing equipment damaged by skateboarding youths.

"We have had to use up thousands from our budget to pay for new benches and hand rails," he said.

"After our wooden benches were broken we got some metal ones, but they were so badly scraped by the wheels that they were unsafe for the children to use."

"The skateboarders climb over the fence and are essentially trespassing when they use the school as a playground," he added.

Mr Pugh claims the police offer little help but suggests the emphasis should be on finding the skaters somewhere of their own - rather than punishing them.

"The police say the right things but rarely deliver as they are too busy doing other things," he explained.

"I don't think those responsible mean to damage the school's equipment, but it inevitably happens when they skate on our property."

"I have approached them and they are not children - many are 17 or 18 years old."

"They all say they have no other place to go, and so perhaps the only solution is to build somewhere for them to practice their hobby so they might then leave our school alone," he added.