VANDALS wrecked a green oasis created by mentally-ill volunteers - just hours before they were due to display their work at an open day.

The vandals threw flowers, sprayed the garden, benches and plants with paint and stabbed holes in the sealed polytunnel used to protect flowers grown for the event.

The attack caused heartache among those who had spent months creating the colourful garden at Green Space, Albert Road, Colne, and growing flowers for sale in aid of the charity. They put on a brave face and raised £300 at the open day but they had to seal off part of the garden because of the damage, which ran into hundreds of pounds.

Project leader Harry Dawe said: "They wrecked everything with the paint and they pulled some of the canes out and pierced the polytunnel in a few places, which will need repairing as soon as possible. The volunteers had put weeks of preparation into it and a lot of it is now ruined.

"Some of the volunteers and staff are quite upset about it. We had to throw away at least £100 worth of plants because they were covered in paint.

"The season's gone now so it's too late to sow them again. We had brought the plants on early under a lamp so that they were ready for the open day.

"There are about 20 volunteers here and it is them I feel sorry for. They don't get paid and they put a lot of effort in.

"We had a blackbird sitting on her eggs in the garden, but we think they've frightened her off too. The volunteers are upset about that because they have been monitoring her for a few weeks."

The charity project works with people suffering from severe and enduring mental illnesses. Workers discovered the vandalism on Saturday, the day before the open day.

Paula Charlton, co-ordinator of the Green Space sites in Burnley and Pendle said: "This project builds up their self-esteem and confidence and they gain new skills and some people get back to recovery through it.

"If it wasn't for projects like this, they would probably just stay in bed all day. That's why it's so awful when something like this happens to knock them back again.

"With the amount of paint that was involved, parents of these kids must have seen it on their clothes and I would ask them to get in touch with the police."

Inspector Martin Holleran said: "We have done house-to-house inquiries but have no leads at the moment.

"What people are trying to do in that area is brighten it up. It is one of the most deprived areas in the borough and they are trying to make it a nicer place."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the police on 01282 425001.