VANDALS who sprayed graffiti on a sports pavilion named after a campaigning councillor has been branded 'shocking and mindless'.

The yobs attacked the Walmsley Pavilion in White Ash, Oswaldtwistle, last month.

Now the town's county councillor Peter Britcliffe has won a promise that the damage will be reinstated as soon as the weather permits Hyndburn Council staff to do the work.

The former White Ash Football Pavilion was renamed after Brian Walmsley in October 2009 in recognition of his campaign to get it rebuilt after the original was wrecked by an arson attack in 2006.

The St Andrew's ward Conservative representative died in 2013.

Cllr Britcliffe said: "The Walmsley Pavillion was so named after the late Brian Walmsley who as a councillor campaigned tirelessly for this facility to be provided.

"This is a shocking act of vandalism by mindless people and Brian would have been absolutely gutted to see what has happened.

"I think local residents will have been distressed to see this act if pointless vandalism.

"The pavilion is an important sports facility for people in the area.

"There is still a lot of civic pride in Oswaldtwistle and they will have been angry and upset at the desecration of this pavilion named after a much-respected former local councillor."

"Having contacted Hyndburn Borough Council, I am delighted to find that they are getting prices for it to be repainted when a dry spell of weather allows."

Cllr Paul Cox, Hyndburn Councils cabinet member for parks said: “It was really disappointing to hear about the graffiti sprayed onto the Walmsley pavilion.

"The Council has engaged a contractor to repaint the pavilion and get rid of the graffiti.

"The work should be completed by the end of the week, weather permitting.”

Coun Walmsley had been involved with the pavilion since the 1950s when he was among a group which arranged for the original to be built.

Neighbours in the area got together to raise money to take a wartime prefab from Spring Hill and transport it to the White Ash site.

They put the bits of prefab in vans and even carried pieces to the site where they reassembled it in 1953.

White Ash Football Club was then formed and they played there until the team was disbanded. The pavilion fell into disrepair and was burnt down in 2006 by arsonists.

After a long campaign by Coun Walmsley, the council built a modern pavilion which has four dressing rooms each with showers and a separate referee’s room.