VANDALS have caused thousands of pounds in damage to concrete fencing panels around the Air Training Corps building, in Rawtenstall.

Commanding Officer Jon Noble said he caught one local youth kicking in one of the panels and asked why -- only to be told he was bored.

Mr Noble said it was ironic that the youths say they are bored yet they were damaging the fence belonging to a group with lot to offer, and which could cure them of the boredom.

Mr Noble has been at the Rawtenstall squadron for six years, and been CO for three, and said the vandalism was a long-standing problem which had cost the ATC between £5,000 and £10,000.

He said: "We used to have wooden fencing panels but they were always being vandalised.

"We replaced them with reinforced concrete slabs but youths have been kicking them and cracking them.

"Some have been left hanging in the balance because the lower slabs have been cracked. If one was to fall on a child it would cause a lot of damage."

Mr Noble said surveyors from the ATC had visited the site and would be applying for planning permission to install a steel fence on the side of the Burnley Road building, which is not overlooked by residents.

He said: "It could take up to 18 months to get that installed and we are appealing for residents to report to the police any vandalism they see."

The squadron boasts 35 girls and boys aged 13 to 22, who meet at the building on Tuesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm.