TWO chapels and a cemetery have been trashed by yobs.

Police and community leaders said they were ‘disgusted and appalled’ by the desecration at Ribble Valley Remembrance Park, Mitton Road, just outside the centre of Whalley.

Officers believe the area may have been attacked several times since the weekend. The damage includes:

* Inside the chapels all the windows were smashed, the doors ripped off, ceilings pulled down, pews torn apart and a stone font toppled.

* Outside a stone memorial at the bottom of the cemetery was smashed to pieces.

* And a book of remembrance and a crucifix was tossed into the long grass outside the chapels.

The cemetery - which is set back from the road and only accessible through woodland - is the final resting place of 995 former patients of nearby Calderstones Hospital.

The damage was reported to police on Saturday by Whalley youth worker Mel Diack, 55, Mitton Road.

Mr Diack said he found the devastation after taking two friends from Belgium to the war cemetery that lies beyond the remembrance park.

He said: “I said I would take them to this beautiful site and when we arrived it was just utter devastation.

“I’m appalled by what has happened. This is a place of rest for so many and should be respected.”

Ribble Valley borough councillor for Whalley, Joyce Holgate, vowed to work with police to catch whoever was responsible for the damage.

She said: “I’m utterly disgusted by what has taken place and can’t believe it could happen in Whalley.

“This has been done by mindless thugs who need catching for what they have done.

“I have spoken to the chief executive at the council and we want to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.

“I will do all I can with the police to get this sorted.”

Ribble Valley police Inspector Jenny Coulston said officers had visited the cemetery on Saturday but that it appeared there had been more damage since then.

She said: “There has been more than one person involved and some one will know who has done this and I appeal for them to come forward.

“The people who have done this are despicable and they should be brought to justice.

“It is an act of wanton destruction. Would they have done it if it was their relatives buried here?”

The cemetery lies across from a row of former Calderstones Hospital cottages in Mitton Road.

The last hospital patients were buried at the site in the early 1970s and it was sold off to a private bidder by the regional health trust in 1993.

A number of companies have owned the site since in order to offer private burials. However, there are only a handful of non-hospital patients buried on the site.

The land is currently up for sale.

A resident living across from the site said the vandalism had come as a shock.

She said: “It’s disgusting. There’s not many incidents like this Whalley but you do sometimes see groups of youths walking around in the area.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 01254 51212 or Crimestoppers, anonymously and free, on 0800 555111.