THE Lancashire Wildlife Trust has slammed vandals who caused thousands of pounds-worth of damage to car parking machines at an East Lancashire nature reserve.

The raiders threw stones, smashing glass and damaging the machines and signs at the Brockholes, near Samlesbury.

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General manager Kath Knight said the attack would hit the reserve financially.

She said: “This is just mindless vandalism. They do not appear to have tried to get any money out of the machines. In fact it would be surprising if there was any money in there as they are regularly emptied every day.”

The reserve, which is just off the M6, saw a bumper Easter with more than 10,000 visitors over the fortnight. Thousands more visitors are expected this weekend.

Kath said: “The money we receive from car parking is vital to the running of the nature reserve. All that money goes back into the reserve and conservation of wildlife at Brockholes.

“We do not charge an entry fee but charge for parking which works out cheaper than most other attractions in the UK.

“This attack will mean we need to use staff and volunteers to man the car park until the machines are repaired. This will take them away from important tasks elsewhere. We will really struggle because of the actions of these individuals but we will continue to offer a high standard service for visitors.”

The car parks are covered by CCTV and Brockholes staff will be studying footage to find the culprits and then pass the images onto the police.

Kath said: “We are providing a wonderful nature reserve with opportunities for visitors of all ages. It is hard to understand why anyone would want to harm our work here.”

A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police said the attack happened between 5.30pm on Thursday and 8.30am yesterday.

She said: “We would appeal for anybody with information about this criminal damage to get in touch with us.”

Anybody with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.