PUPILS and staff have been left devastated after vandals rampaged through freshly-planted flowerbeds.

A group of six Year 10 pupils from the Withins School had spent two days creating the flowerbeds at Blackshaw Primary School, Breightmet.

The Withins pupils had been due to return to the Bideford Drive school to add a bench to complete the picturesque area for the children. But their hard work was ruined in just one night by vandals who threw rubble everywhere and tore the flowerbeds to pieces.

Both the pupils from Withins and Blackshaw were heartbroken by the attack, especially as there is now not enough time this term to restore the garden and work will have to re-scheduled for September.

The raiders are believed to have climbed over a fence to get into the school grounds and used slabs of paving stone to destroy the garden.

Steve Martin, youth and community worker at Withins, who had been overseeing the gardening project, said: "The pupils said they wanted a seating area in their playground and we were happy to help out. The Year 10 lads are very annoyed because they put some hard graft in."

Lynda Lescure, head of Blackshaw, said: "Our children are very upset and I feel very angry. It's such a shame that young people had worked on something of benefit for others and it has been destroyed."

The incident has been reported to the police.

"The vandalism is just senseless and frustrating because it was obvious the work had just been completed. Now it's in ruins.