VANDALS have left a trail of destruction at Malvern's Rose Bank Gardens in the latest in a series of attacks on public areas in the town centre.

Fires were started with torn up magazines, stones were pulled out of walls, metal bars hauled from fences, empty alcohol bottles scattered around and branches ripped off trees.

Youths are being blamed for the damage, on the upper part of the gardens, below Foley Terrace, on Tuesday.

Nearby resident Maggie Tucker said she had heard teenagers in the garden between 3pm and 8pm, drinking and making noise.

"I was on my own and I didn't dare go down there and stop them. It was really quite bad," she said.

Mrs Tucker rang Crimestoppers and was told the incident would be reported to police.

"It looks so beautiful but then we have something like this happening," she said. "Lots of people walk their dogs in Rose Bank Gardens and visitors will see all this mess and carnage."

Former mayor Adrian Ward was with Sir Roy Strong when he re-opened the gardens following a major redesign in 1996.

"They're just mindless people. One wonders why they do it," he said.

"People put a lot of effort into trying to make it a nice attraction, a pleasant place to go and sit for local people and visitors.

"This sort of thing shows the failure of our society, the failure of parenting, the police and our political system and we as tax-payers end up paying for it."

Vandalism continues to be a problem in Malvern, with damage in Priory Park at the beginning of August and vandalism of the bandstand there in April.

Rose Bank Gardens is the responsibility of Malvern Hills District Council.

Spokesman Coun Clive Smith said that community safety officer Mark McKay was already keeping a close eye on Priory Park.

"We'll have to keep a watching brief on Rose Bank Gardens as well," he said.

The mess in the gardens was cleaned up yesterday (Thursday).

Police said they had no record of the incident and could not comment.