YOUNG children were forced to walk past obscene graffiti as they made their way to Bury's Salvation Army Citadel which had been targeted by vandals.

The gable end of the building in the town's Brookshaw Street was scrawled with offensive words of a racist nature. It was the latest act of vandalism at the Citadel which is the venue for mother and toddler groups, pre-school activities and an after-school club.

Major Helen Young, Bury's Salvation Army commander, and her husband Captain David Young, were forced to remove the chalk graffiti after discovering the vandalism yesterday morning.

She said: "As far as I am aware, youngsters accessed the closed St Mark's School nearby and took chalk which they used to scrawl graffiti on our gable end.

"This is most distressing for us. Those coming to our mother and toddler group in the morning had to pass by the racist graffiti before it was scrubbed off."

Major Helen and her husband have been in Bury for the past two years and during that time the Salvation Army Citadel and surrounding area has become the target for vandals and louts.

She added: "There's been lots of vandalism. We've had to re-roof the whole church and put metal gates up at the front. There's also been abuse at the nearby war memorial and we are constantly being forced to pick up discarded food packaging, alcohol cans, bags filled with urine and even needles."