WHITEHALL cash to create a community garden could hit the compost heap if yobs on an Eastleigh estate continue their reign of terror.

Damage running into hundreds of pounds has been caused by vandals who have targeted the 14th Eastleigh Scout headquarters in Allbrook.

Their trail of destruction over the last two weekends includes 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 ground.

A few months ago the Scout building came under constant attack from vandals, with groups of youths hanging around outside also hurled abuse at those inside the building.

Now there are fears that an escalation in the vandalism could wreck plans of creating a community garden in the grounds of the 14th Eastleigh's headquarters.

Assistant Scout leader Ian West, 42, said they had just received a grant for £6,000 under the Living Spaces Scheme from the offices of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

"This would benefit everybody in the area but with the constant vandalism the plans may have to be put on hold or cancelled altogether," he said.

The group could stand to lose the grant money which has to be used by February 2006.

It would be a particularly hard blow for them in light of the 18 months of hard work that has gone into planning the project, which would include landscaping, seats, picnic and barbecue areas.

Allbrook is on the edge of the giant Boyatt Wood estate which police have identified as a hot spot for youth trouble. Police patrols have been stepped up in an effort to crack down on anti-social behaviour there.

Mr West said: "Police say they might have cracked down but the vandalism problem is still going on."

He said that, fortunately, they had been able to enlist the help of volunteers to repair the damage - otherwise they would have been landed with a huge bill. Windows were covered by grilles but missiles thrown by yobs still found their way through.

An Eastleigh police spokesman said: "We have stepped up police patrols to combat the problems."

Anyone with information should call police on 0845 045 4545.