A VANDAL-HIT New Forest parish is to take its troubles to Hampshire's top policeman after a year which saw its property wrecked to the tune of about £200,000.

Councillors decided to draw up regular lists of damage done by vandals and send them to Chief Constable Paul Kernaghan.

Topping the chart of Fawley Parish Council's problems was a fire, believed to have been started deliberately, which wrecked the pavilion at its Queen Elizabeth II recreation ground at Blackfield.

The replacement bill for that alone is £175,000, while play equipment, fences, trees and even the temporary changing rooms brought in to replace the burned-down pavilion have all suffered at the hands of local louts. Private cars parked outside council premises at night have also been vandalised.

Troubles are still running on through the new year, a meeting of the council's public services committee was told by its chairman, Robert Whappet.

"It's just the general continuing catalogue of vandalism and I can't think of a solution."

There were strong appeals from Councillor Allan Glass for people to make the police aware of every instance of damage.

He said: "If no one reports that there is trouble, the police don't police it - it is a circle we have got to break."

With concerns also expressed about groups of youths gathering in the Holbury Drove precinct at Holbury, there were calls for a set of goalposts to be provided at the Hobson Way playing field.

However, amid suggestions that there was little for the teenagers to do, Councillor Brian Hall reeled off a marathon list of activities available around the parish and said: "It's poppycock to say there's nothing to do.

"We've got better facilities than any other parish I can think of - and you're not going to solve the problem with a set of goalposts."

He also referred to the youngsters having state-of-the-art mobile phones and the money to buy considerable amounts of alcohol and Councillor Eddie Holtham agreed: "It's society itself that has got to solve this problem - not an isolated parish council."