The children at one Falmouth nursery have been left without bicycles after a spate of thefts and vandalism in recent months.

Vandals have repeatedly broken into the grounds of the Happy Days nursery on Jubilee Road, where they have ripped the door from the shed, ripped down hanging baskets and stolen bikes.

Mel Seager, the nursery manager, said: “We’ve just had another recent run of vandalism. It’s been ongoing since I’ve been here.

“I came in yesterday, October 21, and three out of six hanging baskets were broken. Just pulled down in a sheer act of vandalism.

“Over the summer they ripped the door off the shed, snapped it in half and got into the shed.

“All our bikes have gone, we lost two when I came and lost the others over the summer months.”

Last week, as well as breaking the hanging baskets, the vandals threw a nappy bin over the fence and spilled rubbish everywhere.

Earlier in the year they broke into the garden and damaged a £500 sun canopy by poking holes in it with a rake from the children’s sandpit.

Mel said: “It’s just been ongoing for pretty much the last two months.

“The police can’t do anything because there’s no CCTV. We hoped with all those houses [next to the house] somebody would have seen something.”

At a recent community event, parents spent time revamping the garden by adding plants, mending fences, and carrying out other jobs.

Mel said: “I’m really disappointed we did all that and now they are just coming in and smashing it all up again.”

The nursery will be holding its Christmas fair on December 6, and this year the money raised will be put towards replacing the bikes and anything else that has gone missing or been broken.

The parent company has also agreed to pay for CCTV at the centre, which Mel hopes will help alleviate the problem.

Mel added: “I just feel really sad for the children. We’re trying to create a safe and stimulating environment for them and then people are coming along and ruining the hard work. I feel for the parents who put in all that hard work, I don’t want to turn around and say to them ‘sorry, the things you have tried to create are ruined.’”

If anyone has any information on last week’s incident at Happy Days, they should contact the police on 101 quoting reference CR/116198/14.