ALLOTMENT owners are planning to fight back against vandals.

Yobs have trashed sheds and greenhouses at the Lowfields Allotments site off Station Road at Mirfield, causing thousands of pounds damage.

They attacked sheds, reducing one to matchwood, and smashed greenhouses, one of which lost 40 panes.

Now the gardeners are considering a night watch and vigilante group to halt the damage.

The allotments, which have been open since 1915, have been vandalised four times this year.

Jim Butler, secretary of Mirfield Allotment and Garden Society, says the latest attack was the worst by far.

He and others fear they are being targeted by the hooligans.

Mr Butler, who has tended the allotments for 40 years, said: “The people who do this sort of thing want publicly flogging.

“We’ve put barbed wire up, but that’s not stopped them. We’ve put up wire and metal fences, but they’re just climbing over them or cutting through them.

“We’ve got to keep an eye on things and catch them. It’s putting people off using the allotments. There are one or two people talking about giving up. We can’t afford that because we need to keep the allotments going.

“The message is that we are not giving up; no way!”

The upsetting trail of vandalism comes on the eve of the society’s annual show.

Many members were today lining up at St Mary’s Church Hall for the 93rd flower and vegetable show. They were chasing more than a dozen trophies and awards.