VANDALS have ploughed down thousands of young trees planted by villagers to improve their community.

About 2,300 of the saplings were planted by people in North Weald about a year and a half ago, but only a few hundred remain, after the rest were trampled by bike riders and car drivers.

Parish council chairman Cyril Hawkins, who helped organise the tree planting at the Weald Common recreation ground, said: “It’s soul-destroying. You go up there and where you think the trees would make a bigger impact on the countryside now, but they’re just gone.

“It’s definitely deliberate. They’ve been stamped on and driven over with push bikes and I think some quad bikes and cars.”

He said tyre marks could be seen around the fallen trees and the canes supporting many of them had been stolen.

“(Planting the trees) cost several hundred pounds,” he added. “It was just done to enhance the community and we all need more trees for the environment.

“It just seemed to be a way to enhance the village of North Weald, but obviously not everyone feels the same.”

Fellow villager and village hall committee chairman Nick Dorras, 63, said: “It’s quite depressing.

“We had three trees planted at the village hall. They were flowering cherry trees and they’ve all been killed as well, over the past year, one by one, which I was very upset about.”

Parish council clerk Susan De Luca said the latest attack on the trees in Weald Common was at the start of April, but there had been other problems in the area since then.

“We’ve had a few incidents up there where kids have had a bonfire on the play area and we’ve had graffiti on the play area,” she said. “We’ve found little bags we think have had drugs in and drug paraphernalia.”

She said the council would be discussing the problems at the next village meeting with the police, which is due to be held tonight (Thursday).