A HAMPSHIRE scout group is praying that vandals will not wreck work on creating a community garden which is being backed by Whitehall cash.

In the past hundreds of pounds worth of damage has been caused by vandals who have targeted the 14th Eastleigh Scout Headquarters in Allbrook.

The trail of destruction has included tearing apart guttering and waste pipes and ripping tiles off the roof.

Outside lights have been smashed and live wires left dangling while broken bottles of booze and empty drink cans have littered the grounds.

The area has been vandal free for about six months.

However, fears are growing that the anti-social problem might return as work is well under way on creating a community garden in the grounds of the Scout headquarters.

The garden which will benefit the whole community has come about through a grant of £6,000 under the Living Spaces Scheme from the offices of the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Eighteen months of hard work has gone into the scheme which includes landscaping, seats, picnic and barbecue areas.

There was concern that the group might lose the grant if they were forced to abandon the project because of escalating vandalism.

When the vandalism stopped the group decided to press ahead with the exciting project.

Assistant Scout Leader Ian West said: "The building work is well under way and the garden will be officially opened on Friday, May 27."

But new fears that vandals could spoil progress on the scheme came over the weekend. Drunken vandals used hard landscaping materials, including fencing posts and bags of concrete, to smash up a local resident's car which had been parked nearby.

Mr West said: "We have our fingers crossed that the garden will not be vandalised as last Friday we did have problems again.

"We are told that the problems go round in circles as these young people are moved on from different recreation grounds."

Mr West added: "Now the work has started we have to finish it."